American Connections
by Iluv-Siri-Boy
Summary: This is about Draco falling in love with Harry's cousin and Harry falling in love with her bestfriend and their relationship. It's a lot about love, but it's not fluff! Ik that the summary's bad, but please read! The rating is just a precaution.
1. Accepted to Hogwarts

"Hey, Mum! Look at this! It's Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ronald!" squealed 16 year old Rose as she stared at a portion of the Chicago Sun Times, not knowing that it was actually the Witches' Weekly paper in disguise.

"What is it, Rosy dearest? Oh dear!" exclaimed Mrs. Potter.

"We ought to show this to your father too," mumbled Mrs. Potter, staring closely at three certain people in the picture.

Mrs. Potter walked quickly into the parlor, where Mr. Owen Potter was sipping his coffee while reading the sports section of the muggle morning paper and clicking through the channels on the television, trying to find the NFL game. He had just located the football channel when his wife, Harmony, walked in with the front page of Witches' Weekly. He looked up questioningly.

"Yes?" asked Mr. Potter.

"Owen, look at this! Isn't that Harry, your cousin, right there, standing next to my sister and her husband?"

Mr. Potter looked at the moving picture and immediately recognized his late only cousin's only son, standing next to his sister-in-law, Hermione Weasley, and his new brother-in-law.

"Yes, that's definitely him. Well would you look at that! What does the article say about it?" Mr. Potter was worried about this. Ever since they had found out about Harry one year ago, they had been forced to keep it a secret. Owen and Harmony had only met him once, with Dumbledore there to explain everything to all of them. In order to keep them safe, Dumbledore had forbidden any other visits, and had made them stay out of contact except through him.

They loved Harry dearly, and he was the only family that Owen had left. That was the reason they had fled in the first place; Sirius Black, a dear friend of the family, had written to them, telling them that the last of Owen's family, Lily and James, had been murdered, and that they should flee the country immediately. This was before Harry and Rose were born. Harmony had been pregnant with Rose when Sirius told them this, so they had agreed that it would be best for the baby if they moved across the Atlantic until Lord Voldemort was defeated.

They had no idea that Sirius had been instructed to do this by James, who was trying to keep them safe. They had no idea that they were going to have a new member in the family, since Lily had been pregnant with Harry at the same time. They had no idea that Lily and James were still alive at the time. They had no idea that what Sirius had told them had happened would be happening within a year. They just left, too devastated about the loss of Lily and James to realize what was really going on.

"Well, it says here that...Oh Owen, you know that I can't read it with you looking over my shoulder like that! Here, _you_ read it," said Harmony, while huffily sitting down next to Owen.

"Okay, let's see here...ah, here we are! It reads:

VOLDEMORT DEFEATED BY THE BOY WHO LIVED!

Hermoine and Ronald Weasley, Draco Malfoy, Neville Longbottom, Professor Severus Snape, Professor Albus Dumbledore, Professor Minerva McGonagall, Alastor Moody, Nymphadora Tonks, Remus Lupin, Ginny and Oliver Wood, Fred and George Weasley, Colin Creevy, Harry Potter and many other members of the Order of the Phoenix were recently engaged in a fight against the Dark Lord Voldemort, which injured and killed many on both sides. The battle took place in the Great Hall at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and lasted for most of the night. Many Death Eaters tried to flee the scene, only to be caught by the newlyweds Hermione and Ronald Weasley, who successfully disarmed and captured almost fifty Death Eaters, before the battle was won. Harry Potter, otherwise known as The Boy Who Lived, and the rest of the Order of the Phoenix's members fought inside the Great Hall, causing over seventy casualties, and retaining only 11 of their own, including, Alastor Moody, who was killed by A female Death Eater using the Avada Kedavra Curse, Remus Lupin, who was stabbed through the heart with a silver dagger, Draco Malfoy, who was struck with the Cruciatus Curse and knocked unconscious after being thrown into a wall, and is currently at St. Mungo's in the intensive care unit, Professor McGonagall, who has gotten off lightly with a broken arm, and 12 stitches on her left leg, Neville Longbottom, who, unfortunately has retained the same sort of injury as his mother, Alice Longbottom, which is overexposure to the Cruciatus Curse, and is now residing at St. Mungo's with her, Fred and George Weasley, who were plagued with some major blood loss due to head injuries, are currently recovering at the Weasley residence, Oliver Wood, who was dropped by a Death Eater from the ceiling, and has retained a broken leg, broken ribs, a broken arm, and a serious concussion, Colin Creevy, who has only minor injuries to his nose and arm, Nymphadora Tonks, who has gone into a coma after being forced by a Death Eater using the Imperius Curse to hit her head against the floor, until she was no longer conscious, and Harry Potter, who, after finally killing Voldemort, collapsed, and is in St. Mungo's, and his condition has not yet been released. St. Mungo's has released a plea, to any of Harry Potter's relatives that may be left alive, to please come to St. Mungo's in London _immediately_.

Mr. Owen Potter looked up from the article at his wife and called for his daughter, who was still sitting at the kitchen table eating Cocoa Puffs. He knew that they had no time to lose.

"Rose, pack your things, we are going to see some relatives across the state. Harmony, may I speak with you in the back room?"

"Yes, Daddy."

"Certainly, dearest."

Mr. and Mrs. Potter walked into the back room, and began discussing what to do about Harry and how to tell Rose something that she had only dreamed of, not knowing that Rose had decided to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"Okay, Harmony, I know that we moved here to be safe out of the way of Voldemort, and we aren't going to move back to London, since we're quite settled here, but we must think of Harry. He is the only relative that I have left, and we have plenty of rooms for him to stay in," said Mr. Potter.

"Yes, but Owen, I don't think Rose is ready to know about all this. Her entire family lying to her, never telling her what they really were? I mean, it is really a lot to have to come to terms with, and..."

But Mr. Potter cut her off with, "And, it's not going to get any easier by waiting forever to tell her. Now is probably the best time to break the news to her. Besides, I found her acceptance letter today in the post."

"She's been accepted! But it will be hard for her, she has been accepted so late. However will she catch up?" retorted Mrs. Potter, who obviously knew she was losing the battle.

"Honey, you know as well as I do that she will have absolutely no problem catching up. It should come as easily to her as it did to you and me. My family being the heirs to Gryffindor definitely has its benefits, and you were the best in our class! Besides, she deserves to know about her family. She might want to become an auror or something in the Ministry, and we can't let her fall too far behind, although we already have penalized her by not letting her go early enough. Besides, if we don't tell her, we will have to take the airplane to London," Mr. Potter reasoned, and wasn't surprised to see his wife's face go pale at the mention of an airplane.

"Owen James Potter, you know very well that I would never step foot on one of those flying muggle death machines! OK! We'll tell her as soon as we're done packing, so we can apparate," said Mrs. Potter in a very annoyed sounding voice.

Owen and Harmony Potter walked up to their bedroom, and, with a wave of their wands, were packed in an instant.

Rose was still sitting in her spot next to the door, wondering what apparate meant, and what she got accepted to do. What did her mum mean when she said that her entire family had been lying to her? She had heard her dad use the term "muggle" before, but had never really understood what it meant. She walked back upstairs, wondering about all of this, and grabbed the bag that she had left packed from their vacation to New York last weekend. Then, she quickly grabbed her special locket off the wall, and clasped it around her neck as she headed downstairs to help load up the car with their luggage.

"Rose, could you come in here for a minute? We need to talk to you about something," called her parents from the kitchen.

"Coming!" she replied.

Rose walked into the kitchen with her bag, and sat down at the kitchen table on the opposite side of her parents.

"Here, Rose, this arrived for you in the mail today," said Mr. Potter as he handed it to her.

"What is it? Who's it from?" asked Rose, knowing that this is the letter that they were talking about.

"Open it and read it," replied her father eagerly.

Rose opened the heavy brown envelope, which was addressed in emerald green lettering, breaking a purple wax seal with an odd crest on it. It read:

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Wugmump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Miss Rose Potter,

You have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. If you choose to be a student here, you will be joining at the Year 6 level, and we will send a tutor in the months before school begins. Regular classes start on September 1st, but you will be expected to visit the school once before school begins, for sorting, and I would like to have a meeting with your parents. Please consider this offer wisely.

Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Minerva McGonagall,

Deputy Headmistress

"W-w-what does this mean?" stuttered Rose.

"Well, there's no easy way to say this, but, Rose, you are a witch. That is an acceptance letter from the most elite school for young witches and wizards, and we think that you should attend," answered her father.

"I know that this is a lot to take in, honey, but now that your cousin Harry, who is a wizard and is the only relative left of your father's, has been put in the hospital, we must go and bring him here and take care of him. We can set up a meeting with Professor Dumbledore while we're in London," said Harmony, trying to comfort her daughter, mistaking the look on her face for sorrow.

"This is the happiest day of my life!" screamed Rose at the top of her lungs. She had dreamed that she was a witch all her life, and now, her dreams had become a reality.

"There is one thing though. You can't tell any muggles about it. We don't want them to know about our world, as that would be dangerous to all of our kind," said Mr. Potter, after she had stopped yelling.

"Does this mean that I can't tell anybody!?!"

"Well, there is one person that you can tell, because she is a witch, although you've never known it. I'm sure that she's been dying to tell you all about it, but we had to wait until you were ready," replied her mother.

"Who? Who? Who?!" squeaked Rose excitedly.

"Your best friend Olivia of course!" exclaimed Liv from the kitchen doorway.

Olivia Weepwillow had been Rose's best friend since before she could remember. She was also one of Harry's best friend's relatives: Neville Longbottom. Rose had known that Liv was keeping a secret from her for years now, but she didn't ask her about it, because they didn't get to spend much time together, since Liv had been going to boarding school since she was eleven, which turned out to be Hogwarts. Liv, and Mr. and Mrs. Potter talked about what has been happening in the wizarding world over the past sixteen years, explaining to Rose about Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters, and about everything that he had done to their families. They explained why they had to keep Harry a secret, even though they had only known about him for a year. When they had finally finished discussing the Dark Lord, Mr. Potter brought out the Witches' Weekly, and removed the charm that disguised it as The Chicago Sun Times.

After reading the article, Rose felt a tear roll down her cheek, as she was thinking about all the people who had died, and when she looked at Liv, she knew that this was new news to her too.

"I hadn't looked at the paper yet this morning. I would've never expected _this,_" she said in a weak voice.

"Olivia, would you please get your parents for me? We need to talk about how we're going to get everybody to London," Mr. Potter replied, trying to sound comforting.

"Yes, Mr. Potter."

After Olivia had walked out the door, Mr. Potter turned to explain a bit about the article to Rose.

"Rose, You see, Neville was Olivia's last magical relative. Her family is otherwise mostly a muggle family, well, actually, her parents are Squibs, the rest of her family is dead, but anyway, having lost her last magical relative big loss for her. It may be a little bit easier for her now, since she has you as well, but she may not be herself for a while," explained Mr. Potter.

"And, we have to go to London, because we need to take care of Harry and have you enrolled at Hogwarts," reasoned Mrs. Potter.

"Well, how are we going to get there? Can we use magic?" asked Rose.

"Your mum and I will be apparating, and Olivia's parents will be going on an airplane, being muggles, but you and Liv will be using Floo powder. Let me explain Floo powder to you. To get to the place you want to go, you grab a handful of the powder, and step into the fireplace. Then, you throw the powder into the air, and yell out the name of the place you want to get to, which in your case it will be St. Mungo's Hospital in London, England. Oh, Olivia, you're back, hello Mr. and Mrs. Weepwillow, we were just discussing how to get to Britain. We will be apparating, and the girls will be using Floo powder. I believe you're taking an airplane, right?" said Mr. Potter

"Yes, we will be leaving on the 11:45am flight at O'Hare today. If you would be so kind as to drive us to the airport, we'd be much obliged," replied Mrs. Weepwillow.

"Certainly, and we can apparate from the airport, but Rose and Livi will have to use the Floo powder now, and wait for us there," said Mr. Potter.

"Alright, girls, are your bags all ready? Ok, Rose, you go first, remember what your father told you to do, and hold on tightly to your luggage now. Olivia will be along in a moment, just wait for her at the hospital," Mrs. Potter said quickly.

'Ok, here it goes,' she thought.

She stepped into the fireplace, after grabbing a handful of Floo powder from her mother, threw it up, and yelled out, "St. Mungo's Hospital in London, England!"

And, with a huge jolt and a lot of sickening spinning, she was suddenly standing in the reception area of a very odd looking hospital. Not knowing what to do, she sat down in one of the chairs, and waited for Liv.


	2. Meeting at St Mungo's

"Hey, Rose! Over here!" shouted Liv from across the room.

Rose walked over to her, still looking around in amazement, at the people who were suddenly popping up in the oddest of places. She had never seen anything like this before. But, she was quickly brought back from her reveries by Olivia, who was saying, "Rose, come on! Let's go over to the reception counter to see if we can see my cousin, and your relatives."

They hurried over to the reception desk, and Olivia began talking to the nurse behind the counter.

"Yes, we'd like to see Neville Longbottom, he's my cousin, and Harry Potter, that's her cousin," said Liv to the nurse.

The nurse stared at Rose, and asked, "Are you really related to Mr. Potter?"

"Well my dad's name is Mr. Potter, and Harry is my cousin," replied Rose.

"Right this way," the nurse replied shakily, leading them down a corridor. She stopped at one ward and told Liv that Neville was in there with his mother. After Olivia had gone to visit them, the nurse led me down another hallway, up to the intensive care ward, where Harry and some other members of the Order were being taken care of.

"When you go in there, would you please be so kind as to tell his visitors that Mrs. Weasley has come to pick them up?" queried the nurse, still sounding a little shook up.

"Of course."

Rose walked in, and immediately ran over to where she saw her Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ronald sitting. They were sitting next to Harry's bed, looking as if they had not slept all night, waiting for him to wake up.

"Hello Aunt Hermione. Hello Uncle Ronald," said Rose brightly.

They both looked up to see Rose, Hermione's only niece, who was almost the same age as them, standing next to Harry's bed, looking on them all with concern.

"Have you two gotten _any _sleep at all? You look like you've been here all night!" exclaimed Rose. They really did look shabby. They had bags under their eyes, their hair was a mess, and they could hardly hold up their heads by themselves.

"Never mind, I think I already know the answer to that one. You need to rest. He doesn't look like he'll be waking up anytime soon, so you might as well go to bed. And, I won't take "no" for an answer. Shoo, I'll call you when he wakes. In the meantime, Uncle Ronald, your Mum is waiting for you, and she said that you and Aunt Hermione were to go home with her," stated Rose in a very business like manner.

"Rose! When did your parents tell you about all of this? Is Harmony coming?" asked Hermione.

"Today actually, and yes, Mum is coming. I must say that she is very excited to see you all. She and Dad should be apparating here any moment now. You can meet them in the reception area. Go on now, your tired and really ought to get some sleep," Rose replied commandingly.

"Ok, you have to tell us if he wakes up though," replied Hermione, finally giving in.

"Don't worry I will."

As Hermione and Ron walked off, Rose turned her attention to Harry. He didn't look beat up, but you could tell from the way he was laying that his spirit was weary and that the fight had really taken a lot out of him. He was still sleeping soundly when Rose heard a groan from the next bed over. She peeked through the curtains and saw a silvery-blonde haired boy, about her age. It looked as if he had just woken up with the worst headache that anyone could ever imagine.

'He probably needs a nurse. I better ask him, because he doesn't look very happy,' thought Rose.

"Excuse me. Are you ok? Would you like me to get you a nurse?" she asked.

She looked at him closely, and recognized him as another one of the people in the picture. He was the one that had been and undercover spy for the Order.

"Are you a friend of Harry's?" she asked.

"You could say that," he replied.

"I'm Rose Potter, and you are?"

"Draco Malfoy. It's nice to meet you. Wait, did you say your name was Rose _Potter?_ As in related to Harry?"

"Yes, I'm his cousin."

"Wow, I didn't know that he had any living relatives, but maybe he kept it a secret to protect your family."

"Protect us from Voldemort?"

Draco flinched a little at the name, but quickly composed himself, "Yes. He would've killed you all," he said, and rubbed his head in pain.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I completely forgot to get you a nurse," said Rose apologetically, running off to find the nurse that she had just seen pass by the door.

'Who was that? Can she really be related to Harry? She looks a little like Harry, with her emerald green eyes and jet black hair, but her face looks much more like Hermione's, and she has a darker complexion too. She looks to be about our age, but how come I've never seen her around Hogwarts before? Could she possibly be a muggle? Or is she from another place?' Draco mused to himself. He had so many questions that he couldn't ask, for fear of offending her. But, he knew what he could do. He would just ask Harry, when he finally woke up. The last time Draco had woken up, Harry was still knocked out from before.

Harry and him had become very good friends, after he had finally been revealed as a spy for the Order. It had been hard for Harry, at first, to accept that Draco, the Slytherin boy who had been his mortal enemy for years, was suddenly working undercover for the Order. But, in the end, he had come to believe the fact that Draco was really a good person and that he would not betray them as the late Peter Pettigrew had. Harry had been proved right when Draco had informed the Order of Voldemort's planned attack on the Great Hall. Thanks to Draco, Dumbledore evacuated the entire hall before Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters broke in.

Flashback

The entire hall turned cold, and the winds picked up suddenly, whipping the house banners from side to side. With a loud crash, Voldemort and his army of followers appeared, wands out. But, the Order was ready for them. The small group of trained witches and wizards gathered together facing towards the huge army of Death Eaters.

Voldemort's face momentarily drained of color, before he quickly composed himself and shouted, "Is this all you have? A small band of only thirty or so? Pathetic! You shouldn't have wasted your time! And don't think that I don't see you traitors! You will pay! Crucio!" Voldemort yelled, pointing his wand at Malfoy.

"Noooo!" shouted Neville Longbottom, another new good friend of Draco's, as he jumped in front of the curse.

This infuriated Voldemort and his Death Eaters, one of them being Lucius Malfoy, Draco's own father. The battle had begun.

Lord Voldemort dropped his curse, and Neville quickly jumped up to help fight the Death Eaters. As the curses started to fly, many cowardly Death Eaters bolted, heading for the door, and escaping...or so they thought. Ron and Hermione were waiting for this chance to attack. They disarmed and froze each Death Eater that came through the door, never faltering, and piling them up next to the door.

Meanwhile, the other members of the Order were knocking out Death Eaters by the dozen, and dodging curses, while protecting each other, and most of all Harry. They knew that Harry would need to be safe for a fight with the Dark Lord. The fight that would end the battle and the war.

In front of him, Draco saw Alastor Moody go down. He shot a few curses in a Death Eaters direction, before he went over to see what had happened to Moody. Moody was dead, undoubtedly hit with the Avada Kedavra Curse. He looked up to see Bellatrix LeStrange. Before he had time to think, she yelled in her high pitched voice, "Crucio!"

Excruciating pain coursed through his body, causing him to double over, but he had built up a small immunity, due to the many times his father had used the curse on him, when he had done wrong. He used this immunity to reach out, despite his pain, and hit the wand from Bellatrix's hand. He grabbed up his wand and hers, and began firing curses and hexes at Voldemort's followers with both wands, although he could feel a nasty headache coming on.

When he took the chance to look around at how the battle was going, he noticed Neville, twitching on the ground, and recognized his tormentor as Pansy Parkinson. He fired a disarming charm at Pansy, and then sent her flying against the wall, with her knocking out several Death Eaters on the way. He ran over to Neville, who was still twitching, even though Draco had broken Pansy's Crutacius curse.

"Neville! Neville, what happened, why are you still affected by the curse?" questioned Draco, unable to keep the urgent worry out of his voice. He didn't notice Bellatrix approaching from behind, scooping up the wands Malfoy had left laying next to him.

"He can't answer you, boy," stated Bellatrix, with an ugly grin on her face, "He's been under the curse for too long. He's gone, and now I think it's time that I got rid of you, you unworthy little brat! But don't expect it to be the easy way, death is better than what's about to happen to you. Crucio!"

Once again, Draco felt the unbearable pain run through his veins, and he toppled to the ground, unable to remain standing, after having drained his energy last time. He knew what she wanted. She wanted him to scream, but he would not. He would never give in. The last thing he remembered happening before he was thrown against the wall, thus causing him to lose consciousness, was Remus Lupin dueling with Bellatrix, attempting to avenge Sirius' death, and hitting her with the Avada Kedavra curse, right as she put a silver dagger through his heart. They died with Remus avenging Sirius' death and Bellatrix accomplishing her task for her master.

End of Flashback

But, that was all over now. Harry had finally killed Voldemort, after both of them had been locked in an exhausting magical battle for at least half an hour. So far, no one knew how Harry had done it, and he hadn't woken since he passed out after the fight. The medi-witches assured everyone that Harry would be alright, but it may be a couple of days before he woke up.

When Draco had found out about Neville, it had been hard for him to accept it, because he had never gotten to thank him for jumping in front of the curse for him. He was mad at himself for not getting there in time to save Neville from Bellatrix's curse.

His thoughts were interrupted, when Rose came back in with a nurse. The nurse gave him some kind of purple colored potion that immediately took the pain away, although it left a nasty taste in his mouth.

"Feeling any better? I don't know if it will take a while to start working or...," stammered Rose uncertainly.

"Oh, most potions work right away. Are you from around here?" questioned Draco, wondering if the question might offend her, and finding relief that she seemed unperturbed.

"No, I live back in the states, in a suburb of Chicago," she replied, feeling only slightly uneasy that she didn't know much about England at all.

"Chicago! Isn't that where the mafia gathers and stuff?!?" he said, shocked that Rose, such a beautiful, delicate-looking girl, could live in a place like that.

"Well, like I said, I live in a suburb of Chicago, not like near the projects or anything. And, the mafia still lives there a little, I guess, but it's not like you ever see them around or anything. Besides, when we do go into the city, we never visit the crime-riddled areas; we usually go shopping at Navy Pier, or go out to eat."

"What's Navy Pier?"

"What?!? You've never heard of Navy Pier before?" she said incredulously, shocked to learn that it was possible not to know about The Pier.

Her reaction left Malfoy stunned, and he suddenly felt as if he should know all about Navy Pier. He replied, "Umm, no, I haven't actually ever visited America."

"Oh, it's great! There's always so much to do! At least there is in the big cities, not really in the rural areas, but anyways, in the city, you can always go shopping, or sightseeing, or boating, or rollerblading, or biking, or sailing, or swimming, or even just sitting down in the sun to read a book.

"And, there's so many sports to watch too! You can always get tickets to a Sox game, and the Cubs play too, but it's practically impossible to get tickets, because everyone wants to see the Cubs. Then there's the football. The Bears aren't doing so well this year, but they'll bounce back like they always do. And, we've got the Chicago Fire playing soccer. They're not too popular yet, but I'm sure that they will eventually be much better. We have the Bulls playing basketball, but they are really bad; I don't think that they'll ever get over the loss of Jordan. We've also got the Blackhawks playing hockey, but I don't follow it that much. The thought of people hitting each other over a puck just doesn't appeal to me all that much.

"And, the food is great! There are so many types of food there that you can hardly even imagine! We've got Chinese food, Greek food, Italian food, Thai food, Indian cuisine, Irish pubs, and of course, there are McDonalds that are nearly lining the streets. We also have really cool resturaunts like the Hard Rock Cafe, the Rainforest Cafe, and Ed Debevick's. What kind of things do you have here?"

Draco was caught off guard by the question, because she had been talking so fast he could barely make sense of it at all.

"I...uh...we...uh...London is kind of like that," he said at last.

"Yeah, I've never been across the Atlantic before. This is my first time. I'm kind of new to this whole magic thing too. I mean, Mum and Dad aren't...what's the word...oh, yes, muggles, but they've kept it from me my entire life. I've never known anything other than the muggle way of life, and now they're sending me off to Hogwarts so late in my life, that even with a tutor it's going to be hard to catch up. I'm not asking for pity, but I honestly know nothing about the wizarding world except what my parents and Liv have told me, and I know nothing about your culture at all," she said, hardly noticing that Draco seemed shocked that she was telling him all this.

Although Draco was relieved that she had answered almost all of his questions, he was still stunned about two things: one was the fact that any living thing could talk as fast as she did without fainting, and another one was that she had never known about her magic. She must be a fairly powerful witch, being a Potter, but hadn't she ever noticed the strange things that happened when she got mad?

"Of course, I had always noticed that strange things happened whenever I became upset of angry, but the same kind of things happened with Liv and Mum and Dad, so I had thought that those things happened to everybody," she said, not realizing that Draco had just been wondering about the same thing.

"So what year are you going to be in at Hogwarts? I'm going to be in 6th year," Draco said trying desperately to get the conversation back to something he knew about.

"Well, my letter said that I'm going to be in 6th year, and that Dumbledore was going to send a tutor to live with us until the term starts, but I still have to be sorted. What house are you in?"

Draco squirmed a bit before answering darkly, "Slytherin."

Rose immediately noticed the hint of anger in his voice, and asked, "What's so bad about Slytherin?" before she could think what she was saying.

"Well, it's not the house that's bad, it's the people in it. Almost all of the people in Slytherin were Death Eaters or followers of Voldemort. I'd expect that the house is all but empty now, with so many of them shipped off to Azkaban Prison," Malfoy said with some slight sorrow in his voice.

"Well, I don't think that Slytherin can be that bad, I mean you're in it, so it can't be all bad," Rose surprised herself by saying this outloud, and quickly covered her mouth, before saying, "I mean, because you are in the Order and all," trying hard to make sure that she hadn't made a fool of herself. She didn't want him to know she liked him, because they had hardly known each other for more than a half hour.

For a brief moment, Draco thought Rose might like him, which was a welcome thought, since he rather fancied her, but his hope died when she said it was because he was in the Order. He hadn't noticed her hand flying to her mouth, or the way she was now squirming uncomfortably and blushing.

"Oh, by the way, what is Azkaban?" asked Rose politely, her face still slightly red from what she had said earlier.

Now it was Draco's turn to gape. "You mean you've never heard of it?! It is the most dreaded prison in all the wizarding world, only wizards who have done really evil things are imprisoned there, such as my father," Malfoy said sorrowfully.

"Oh dear, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to dredge up anyone's past," Rose said faintly wishing she hadn't asked about Azkaban.

"No, it's ok, my father was a Dark wizard, and it was his choice to be that way, and nobody could've changed his mind."

"Hey, Rose, there you are. I, oh..., hello, Draco," said Livi.

He recognized this girl from school: Olivia. She was in Gryffindor, and he remembered picking on her a couple of times, not wanting to blow his cover. He felt a severe need to apologize.

"Olivia, I'm sorry for being so mean to you all the time. I never really meant the things I said, but I couldn't blow my cover," Draco said, with an unmistakable sound of honesty in his voice.

"I know, and it's quite alright. I said some pretty mean things to you too these past years. I'm sorry as well."

"When you two are done over there, could you get me a nurse, my head is pounding, and I can hardly lift my fingers," said Harry with an amused look on his face.


	3. Debate

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, except for the ones that I made up myself. I do own the plot though, but otherwise, it's JK Rowling's.

"Cousin Harry! It's me! Rose! Your cousin from America. Mum and Dad told you about me didn't they?"

"Rose? How did you get here? Did they tell you? Where are they? Are you all alright?" Harry looked so worried that Rose laughed.

"Harry! It's ok! We're all fine. I used Floo Powder to get here. Nasty experience it was, felt like being on a Tilt-O-Whirl. They told me everything. They are apparating here from the airport in a moment," Rose replied, smiling when Harry's face relaxed and he broke out into a grin.

"I'll go get you a nurse. I'll be right back," said Rose.

Rose walked out calling for a nurse. Draco turned to Harry.

"Is she really your cousin, Harry? She looks a little like you, but more like Hermione. How come you never told me about her…Err...I mean…about your family?" asked Draco.

"Yes, she is my cousin. She looks like Hermione, because her mother is Hermione's sister. Yes, I do suppose she looks a small bit like me, what with her hair and eyes. I was never allowed to tell anyone about my relatives, because Voldemort might have found out and killed them," explained Harry.

Right then, Owen and Harmony burst into the room, with Rose and a nurse trailing behind them. Harmony had burst into tears, and ran over to Harry and hugged him so tightly that he looked as if he would crack into pieces. After Harmony had finished hugging Harry, Owen walked over and gave him a bear hug as well.

"Oh Harry! We were so worried! Thank God you are alright!" sobbed Harmony.

"We had feared the worst when we read that article, but we are so glad to see you again," said Mr. Potter, sounding very relieved. He was grinning wildly, and Harmony, who had stopped crying, was now smiling as well. They both sat down in the chairs that Hermione and Ron had left there and started talking with Harry in hushed voices.

Suddenly, Rose exclaimed, "Oh no! I told Uncle Ronald and Aunt Hermione that I would tell them when Harry woke up! They were here all night waiting for you to wake up. Does anyone have a cell phone I could use?"

Draco and Harry gave Rose confused looks.

"What?" asked Rose, somewhat annoyed that they were giving her those looks.

"What is a cell phone? Some kind of muggle device?" asked Draco.

"Umm… Rose, I don't think the Weasleys know how to use a telephone. Ron tried to call me once or twice and…well… it didn't go so well," said Harry.

"Rose, darling, don't worry. I'll apparate there and be right back. Besides, I have some visiting to do," said Mrs. Potter.

"Okay. See you in a bit, Mum," replied Rose.

With a loud POP Harmony had vanished. Rose turned back to Harry to see the nurse giving him a potion to clear up his headache.

"Well, Harry, once you're all rested, we are taking you home with us. There is no way you are ever going to have to live with the Dursleys again. We've got plenty of rooms and since Rose just got accepted into Hogwarts, she'll be needing a tutor. That is, if you think you're up to it?" Mr. Potter said.

"Of course I'm up to it! Rose, you've gotten accepted into Hogwarts?! Why didn't you tell me?! This is great! I would love to tutor you! But…umm…where will Draco stay? Now that we've defeated Voldemort, the Order has been disbanded, and he has no place to go, since his house has been claimed by the Ministry. Can he come with us?" Harry pleaded.

"Certainly! Our house is always open to any friends of yours, Harry. And, Draco could also tutor Rose. So, what do you say Draco? Want to come and stay at the Potter residence?"

"Oh, please do! It would be so much fun! I could show you Navy Pier, and we could go out to eat, and … please say yes!" Rose said excitedly.

"I…I…Thank you so much. I'd love to join you, and I would definitely enjoy helping to tutor Rose," Draco stammered to Mr. Potter. Even if he'd wanted to say no, Rose's excited pleas convinced him to accept. She was so beautiful, especially when she smiled. And her laugh….. No, I shouldn't be thinking this! I barely just met her, and I don't think Mr. Potter would like it if his only daughter had a boyfriend that lived with them.

"Okay, it's settled then! You boys can live with us for as long as you like. You can each have your own rooms too. Oh, Rose, we need to get going. Your mum and I made an appointment with Dumbledore. We'll have to use the Floo network again," Mr. Potter said.

Rose's normally tan face went pale. The Floo powder had made her quite sick before, but she hadn't thought of it so much then, because of how excited she was about seeing Harry. She didn't know how well she would be able to handle it now that she was thinking about it.

"Isn't there any other way?" Rose asked.

"I'm afraid not. Hogwarts is pretty far away, and Floo powder is the fastest and easiest way to get there. Don't worry, it's not as bad the second time," Mr. Potter replied.

Rose promised that she'd visit with them later and went with her father to the fireplace that the hospital provided to access the Floo network. She went first, throwing the powder into the air and yelling, "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

Once again she started to spin really fast, causing her to get extremely dizzy, but in a second, she was emerging from a different fireplace, covered in ashes.

"Well, hello Miss Potter. Here, brush yourself off, and ah… here's Mr. Potter," said a very old, yet friendly looking man sitting at a large desk.

"Hello, Professor Dumbledore, I have already arranged for Harry and Draco to tutor Rose. We just need to get her sorted," Mr. Potter said.

"Well, let's get started then! Rose, just sit down here on this stool, and I'll place the hat on your head."

"O…ok."

She sat on the three legged stool in the middle of the room and pulled the hat over her head. All of a sudden, a voice whispered in her ear, "Ah, another Potter, eh? Let's see, yes, yes, you are remarkably smart! And what's this? Ah, unlimited bravery and courage! Yes, yes, and here we have loyalty, and what's this?! Oh dear, you are a tough one…hmmmm….yes I see, you want to be in both Slytherin and Gryffindor, one because of Mr. Malfoy, and one because of Mr. Potter….well, well…I'm sorry dear, but you are much better suited for …Gryffindor!"

Dumbledore stood up and shook her hand, and said, "You remind me of Lily, you two are very similar. Well anyways, welcome to Gryffindor! Your Head of House is Professor McGonagall. I'm sure that you will catch on very quickly, especially with the two excellent tutors you have. I will be checking on your progress every now and then, to see how you're getting along. You have almost two whole months to get ready, so you should be fine, not to mention that we will arrange for you to have special help here at Hogwarts as well. Is there anything else?"

"No, nothing else. Thanks soo much Professor Dumbledore! I won't let you down!" cried Rose gleefully.

"Alright, well you will be getting another letter before the term starts. See you then."

"Goodbye!" chorused both Mr. Potter and Rose simultaneously.

Rose picked up a handful of Floo Powder again and went back to St. Mungo's, with her father saying that he was going to go see Mrs. Potter and that he'd catch up with her in a bit. She had to tell Harry, Liv, and Draco that she was in Gryffindor. She knew she should be extremely happy, but somehow, she found herself wanting to be in Slytherin. Maybe she wanted to be with Draco…but she mustn't think of that right now, she had to go tell them the good news.

She walked in to find Draco asleep and Harry and Liv talking about something, whispering so as not to wake Draco up. They looked as if they were rather fond of each other too. While Rose was wondering about this, Harry and Liv spotted her, and motioned for her to join them.

"I did it! I've been sorted into Gryffindor! Dumbledore says I have two months to prepare for school," whispered Rose excitedly.

"Great! Well, Draco and I are ready to be released today, and we're leaving as soon as your father comes back," said Harry.

"Yes, well I need to be getting to the airport to pick up my parents, so I'll see you guys later, back home," Liv said.

"Okay, we'll see you Liv," Rose replied.

"Goodbye, Olivia," Harry said, hoping he would see her a lot during the summer. He rather fancied her, and was sad to have her leave for even a minute. He wondered why he had never noticed her before…

"Harry…Harry? Are you alright? Do I need to get the nurse? Is your headache coming back again?" Rose asked, looking extremely worried.

"I…no. I'm fine," he replied.

As Liv was walking down the hall to the entrance to the muggle world, she wondered about Harry. She thought she might fancy him a bit…or a lot. But, the question was, does he like her? She hoped he did, but was unsure. However, she would have to think of that later, because she had to go and pick up her parents from the international airport.

'Liv and Harry seem made for each other. They look so cute together. Her red curly hair complements his messy black hair quite nicely, and her honey brown eyes look good with his deep green. But, most of all, their obvious connection is what makes them seem like a couple already. They seem to like each other a lot,' Rose thought.

"Hello, dears. Are we all ready to go?" Mrs. Potter said, startling Rose from her thinking.

"Uh...yes, Mum. Harry and Draco are all ready to go. Right, Harry?" asked Rose.

"Yeah. Our trunks are all packed up. We just have to wake Draco up," Harry answered.

"Well, we are going to have to take the muggle way and use the airplane, because large trunks can't go across the ocean on the Floo network. They get lost. I already put us on the flight that leaves in an hour. So, we should get going. Harry, let me get those trunks for you, and Hedwig too. Come along, we need to get a cab. Rose, we'll be right outside. Please wake Draco and meet us there," Mr. Potter said. Mr. Potter levitated the trunks and Hedwig's cage and walked out, closely followed by Mrs. Potter and Harry.

Rose had no idea how to go about doing her newly appointed task. She couldn't just yell in his ear, and she couldn't shake him awake, because she didn't want to hurt him by accident. Then she remembered how her mother always woke her up in the mornings when she'd had a bad day. She walked quietly over to him and sat on the side of his bed. Then, she whispered in a soft and kind voice, "Draco, wake up, we're going to bring you home now."

When he didn't wake up, she touched the side of his cheek gently, and whispered a little louder, "Draco, come on, the cab is waiting outside."

He stirred and opened his eyes groggily. He found himself looking into deep pools of light green. It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. He felt her hand on his cheek and wished she would stay like this, her hand on his cheek and whispering in his ear, forever, but he knew it was time to go.

"Okay, one second, let me grab my wand and my…where's my trunk?" he asked.

"Dad already took it out to the taxi. Here's your wand," Rose said as she handed him his wand. She was slightly disappointed that he had gotten up, she could have stayed like that forever, but she knew that they had to get moving, or else they would miss the plane.

Rose led the way to the taxis and they both climbed in and were immediately shoved together, because the cab was so full of people. They both secretly enjoyed this, but neither of them would admit it. Harry was sitting in the front seat, next to the driver, and Mr. and Mrs. Potter were sitting close together near the window, and Rose was squished in the middle, next to Draco.

Draco had never gone on an airplane before. He had never even been in a taxi cab before. His father had always insisted that he remain purely magical, with no muggle influences. The cab was bumpy and it was rather cramped, although he didn't mind sitting next to Rose. He looked around the cab and the streets, which he had also never seen before, asking Rose questions all the way.

Rose glanced at Draco and almost laughed to see him looking around the cruddy old taxi cab with something similar to awe. He had obviously never been exposed to anything that was non-magical before. He kept pointing to simple things, such as street cars and neon signs, and asking what they were called and what they were used for. She found this extremely funny and it was all she could do not to burst out laughing when he made a remark about how unstable the "ugly muggle flying devices" were.

Harry was also entertained by Draco's questions. He looked back through the rear-view mirror once to find Draco gaping in awe at a neon sign for a pub. However, Harry had never been on an airplane before. He agreed with Draco; they looked extremely unsafe. He also got worried when Harmony started to mumble and complain to Owen about them being "flying muggle death machines," and how it would be a miracle if they made it out alive. Rose, however, looked completely unafraid and picked seats for Draco, Harry, and herself. Harmony and Owen sat down in the seats behind them. Harry was glad that he had an extra pair of muggle clothes for Draco to wear, because this airplane was packed with muggles and Draco would've been very conspicuous.

Mr. and Mrs. Potter couldn't help but notice the connection between Draco and Rose. They seemed made for each other. Love was obviously visible in both Draco's startling gray eyes and Rose's light green eyes, yet they were oblivious to it. Harmony and Owen whispered about it on the plane. Mr. Potter was trying to make Mrs. Potter less nervous, and to make her stop muttering about the airplanes being "flying muggle death machines," so they sat talking about Rose in hushed voices, making sure that neither Rose nor Draco could hear them.

"I don't know if I like the fact that my daughter is in love with someone who is going to be living with us in our house," Owen complained protectively.

"Oh, Owen, don't be ridiculous. You know Rose would never do anything that we wouldn't approve of, and Draco seems like a very nice boy. Besides, he was in the Order, and he's Harry's friend," reasoned Mrs. Potter.

"It's not that I don't like the boy, I just don't like the fact that my daughter likes him. Rose shouldn't be interested in boys yet," Mr. Potter said, sounding more unreasonable by the minute.

"She's sixteen, Owen! She should have been interested in boys years ago! Besides, I have been trying to get her to go on a date with someone for months now, and the only answer I ever get is, "No way." She needs to meet people, Owen! She is so reclusive to everyone except her closest friends that I've been worried that she'll never date!" Harmony said.

"Yes, but…ok fine you've got me there, but I still don't like this idea of her dating. I don't want her to get hurt," Mr. Potter sounded worried.

"I don't think that Draco would ever hurt her intentionally. But, honey, everyone gets hurt every once and a while. Don't worry though, because love always wins out in the end."

"Well, just don't start inviting people to the wedding yet."

"Oh, honey, did I forget to tell you? Hermione and Ron are going to come and stay with us also. I insisted, because Arthur and Molly had so many people at their house, and they didn't need another pair to crowd it even more. Besides, I haven't seen Hermione for a while," Harmony said.

"Well, we certainly have the room, so I guess it's alright, but I don't know what to do about when we work during the day. I don't know how I feel about leaving a group of teenagers in the house alone," Owen argued.

"Owen, these are probably the most mature teenagers you'll ever meet. This business with Voldemort has matured them beyond their age, and Rose was always very mature for her age. Besides, Hermione and Ron are married now, and marriage makes a person more responsible. I trust them," Harmony insisted.

"It's not that I don't trust them. It's just that, what if they accidentally do a spell wrong when they are tutoring Rose, and put themselves in danger?"

"You know, I think you're starting to make these arguments up now. They are highly qualified; stop being so worried. They'll do fine, now sit back and sleep the rest of the way home, because you never know how long these flying muggle death machines will stay in the air."

"What's the point of the Ministry? That's kind of like a republic, only top officials can vote for the new members, right? Why don't you have a democracy? Where the people vote for who is going to run their country," Rose said to both Draco and Harry. She didn't know how they had gotten into talking politics, but she already had a good argument ready. She never missed a chance to voice her opinions.

"Why let the muggles vote? Do they really understand about all that governmental stuff? I mean, what if they are unqualified to vote, like they vote for the wrong person?" Harry asked.

"Of course, that happens all the time, but the muggles are people too! They have feelings and thoughts, and many of them know exactly what they are doing when they vote. There are a few people who don't really understand, but want to make it seem like they do, so they vote and tell everyone who they're voting for. But, people who really want the best for our country vote right, and they usually win," Rose answered.

"Yes, but why do common muggles get to vote? Shouldn't there be a certain group of muggles that get to vote? I mean, some muggles obviously don't know what's best for anyone, much lees the country! They shouldn't have uneducated muggles voting for something so important!" Draco argued.

"Everyone has a right to vote! Their opinion should count for something too! Besides, you don't even understand how our government works, so you have no argument," Rose stated.

"Well, you don't know anything about our government either!" Draco said.

"Prove it," Rose said, sounding somewhat stony towards him.

"Fine, who is the head of our government?"

"The Minister of Magic, who is now Albus Dumbledore."

"Okay, now, how is our government run?"

"Well, you have many different committees run by the most influential wizards and witches, and each committee has a special job. There are almost too many committees to name, but an example is the Destruction of Dangerous Animals Committee," Rose said, sounding exactly like Hermione did when she was reciting an answer to a question.

"How do you know all of this stuff? You just found out that you were a witch today!" Draco said incredulously.

"You sound just like Hermione at school!" Harry exclaimed.

"Well, she is my aunt, but that's not the point. I know about your government, but you don't know anything about mine," Rose said, obviously challenging them.

"Try us," Draco said, accepting the challenge, although he didn't really know anything about her government.

"What are the three branches of government?" Rose quizzed them.

Both Draco and Harry looked thoroughly confused. Harry asked, "There's branches in government? What do they do?"

"Just as I thought, you are both clueless," she said, sounding a little smug with herself. "You had your entire lives to read up on American government, and I had only thirty minutes to read about yours. Therefore, you have no argument, because you don't know what you are talking about."

"Well, maybe we didn't feel like learning about the ridiculous American government!" Draco said not to loudly, getting annoyed that she had outsmarted him.

"Our government is not ridiculous!" Rose exclaimed, sounding hurt. "Just because we believe in a country for the people, and not just for the aristocrats, doesn't mean that we are ridiculous. Why should we let stuck-up jerks that we didn't even get to chose boss us around? It makes no sense!"

"We don't have stuck-up jerks running the Ministry! We have highly qualified witches and wizards running it. It seems to make sense to me, that we let people who actually know how to work the government run it," Draco said making sure he wasn't overheard by any muggles, not noticing that Rose was getting angrier by the minute. Neither of them noticed that the plane was landing, because they were so engrossed in their argument. Only Harry realized that they were the last ones on the plane.

"How dare you insult us, when you know nothing about us at all! You act like we aren't capable of thought!" Rose screeched in a very angry voice.

"Well, maybe you aren't if you let amateurs run your government!" Draco shouted back, angry as well.

"You know what?! I don't have to listen to this! I'm not talking to you," Rose said, crossing her arms across her chest and turning her head away from him.

"Well, I'm not talking to you either!" Draco replied, sounding hurt and mad at the same time.

"Um… Rose, Draco? We have to get off the plane now. Everyone else has already left," Harry said sounding uncomfortable. But, he was used to it, because Hermione and Ron always fought like that, even though they were married.

They stepped off the plane without talking to each other, making sure that Harry was between them. They met up with Mr. and Mrs. Potter, who didn't say anything about Rose and Draco, but seemed rather amused. Then, they all grabbed a van cab, so that they didn't get squished again, and Draco and Hermione sat as far apart from each other as possible. Draco was so worked up that he didn't notice that they had already gotten out of the city and were pulling up in a driveway.

"Okay, we're here," Harmony said in a sing-song voice.


	4. The Potter Mansion

The van taxi pulled up to an enormous Victorian mansion that was bigger than any house Harry or Draco had ever seen. It was at least four floors and had a huge crescent driveway looping through a small part of the massive lawn. The front yard had a large fountain in the middle of a well kept flower garden, and various statues were set in no particular order. The yard looked more like a park, with stone benches and gravel paths. It was spectacular.

The house almost overshadowed the lawn, it was so impressive. It was a large yellow house with white trim, and it had huge French windows everywhere. There were turrets and bay windows as well, and the entire house had light green ivy snaking up parts of it.

"Come on, _Harry._ You can stare at my house later," Rose said, pointedly ignoring Draco's presence.

Draco was about to say something, but became distracted as he was walking to the door. He was walking through huge white pillars to get to the gigantic hand carved door. He wondered vaguely how they had gotten the money to afford something so grand. This house was almost as grand as Hogwarts, and there were many like it around, but none of them were as huge as this. In fact, this house stuck out like a sore thumb compared to the other little Victorian houses.

As they were led inside, they saw a welcome room with a gigantic chandelier that was at least as big as one of the pumpkins Hagrid had grown one year at Halloween. There were lots of tables lining the walls along with a round table with a bouquet of flowers on it in the middle.

"Harmony, we ought to put their luggage in the elevator and we can go up with it, they can use the stairs," Owen said.

"That sounds like a good idea. Rose, you can lead them to their rooms. Why don't we give Harry the Savannah Room and Draco the Jungle Room. Give them a small tour too, so they get to know the house a bit. We'll leave their luggage in their rooms and be in the parlor if you need us," Mrs. Potter said.

"Okay, Mum. Let's go," Rose said, not looking at Draco.

Rose led them to a set of stairs with a red carpet going up the middle; when they got to the top of those, the stairs split into three different directions: one leading to the left, one leading to the right, and one leading straight. Rose stopped in the middle.

"The one to the left leads to my parent's wing. The one to the right leads to the guest wing. And, the one leading straight leads to my wing," Rose said, pointing to each. "I'm going to show you my wing first, then your wing. There's nothing really in my parents."

Rose walked up the steps, with the two boys following behind her. She went up to the first door in the long hallway and opened it, a sound like running water played in their ears.

"This is my relaxation room," Rose said leading them into it. "It can turn into any relaxing landscape that I need. Right now, it's a stream in the country."

"But it must use magic, right?" Harry asked, since Draco wasn't talking to Rose.

"Well, yes it does, but before I knew about magic I had always thought that it was virtual."

"Virtual? Like computer games?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, but in truth, nothing but magic could do something like this." As she said that, a waterfall erupted out of the wall and the room turned into a rainforest with real trees and plants. "There's never anything dangerous, because dangerous things aren't relaxing, but sometimes it does produce real animals too. Well, let's move on to the next room."

They walked out, and moved over to the next door. Rose walked in.

"This is my study room. I always like to write in here, because it's so quiet and it's easy to concentrate. There's not much else to it, so let's go."

She led them into the room next door.

"This is where I keep all of my instruments for my band. There's a recording studio right there," Rose said pointing to a door and a window that looked like a mirror. "I can play them all, but I prefer the acoustic/electric guitar. Olivia plays the bass, Carolyn plays the keyboard, Gabrielle plays the drums, and Matt plays the lead electric guitar. I'm the lead singer, and we all write our songs together."

"What is your band called?" Harry asked.

"Well…umm…we don't really have a name yet. The only gigs we play so far are like, weddings and birthday parties and stuff. We'll get out of that someday though. Someday people will be paying to see us in concert. Enough about that, let's go, there's only a couple of rooms left."

Rose led them to a door, and she made a motion as if to quiet them. She opened the door a bit and peeked in. Apparently, whatever she was checking on was ok, so she brought them inside.

As soon as they were inside, she shut the door and gave a sharp whistle. All of a sudden, animal noises were coming from everywhere, and dogs, cats, ferrets and birds were coming straight towards them. They all went directly for Rose, and crawled all over her, pulling her down to pet them.

Draco watched all this with amazement. Rose was laughing, and it was the most wonderful sound he had ever heard. It was so filled with joy and love for those animals that one couldn't help but like them too. Wait, what was he thinking?! He didn't like Rose, and he didn't like anything that she liked either. But, still, he picked up a little yellow puppy that had been trying to get his attention.

Harry was pulled down into a group of kittens, and was reminded of when Mrs. Figg had her cats. He had to be careful not to step on any of them, because they were so small. He wondered where she got all of these animals, and how she got them to all get along. He watched Rose with all of her animals, and couldn't help but smile.

Rose looked up from her pets to see both Draco and Harry watching her.

"What?" she asked, wondering what the big deal was.

"Where did you get all these? How do you get them to all get along like that?" Harry questioned.

"Oh, well…," she blushed, "I don't have that many friends, really, and well, I went to the shelter one day and saw these poor things about to be euthanized, because they hadn't been adopted for such a long time," she said pointing to a clump of older looking dogs and cats. "And, well, I guess I understood them, and I adopted them and brought them here. My parents let me keep them, because I got so lonely when Olivia left for school. But then, I started to work at the shelter, and whenever an animal was going to be put down, I'd adopt it. That's how I got most of them, but some of them I got from the pet store. There's only one that doesn't live in here with the rest; she lives in my room. There's some more pets that I have to keep in tanks in the back: geckos, snakes, frogs, lizards, mice, hamsters, guinea pigs, and some gerbils. They are too small and fragile to let them play with the other animals. I never figured out why they all get along the way they do, but none of them ever get into fights, and they never try to hurt each other. We'll have to feed them in a minute, but that can wait until later. My room is the only one left. You can bring the animals that you've got in your arms, but the rest have to stay here. Let's go."

They left the room, Draco holding the puppy and Harry carrying a kitten. Rose brought them to the last room and opened the door. Her walls each had a different colored rose on them. On one wall, there was a pink rose, on another, a yellow, on a third, a black, and on a fourth, a white. It took them a second to realize that the roses weren't just that. There were thousands of pictures, drawings, and magazine clippings making up each rose, and the backround was comprised of various other pictures of almost everything you could imagine. But this amazing display wasn't the only evidence in the room that Rose loved her name. When they looked up at the ceiling, they saw a gigantic blood red rose painted all by itself. This was obviously painted by a very good artist.

"Who painted that?" Harry asked, prompted by a look from Draco.

Rose blushed brilliantly and stuttered, "Well…I…I…I painted that…in my spare time…I know that it's not very good, but I was bored, and I…"

"Are you kidding?! That is a great painting! It's gorgeous! How did you do it? Did you have to paint it from a ladder?" Harry questioned, amazed.

"Well, actually, I painted it laying on my back. I set up four ladders and put a sturdy piece of wood on it and just started painting. It was going to be small at first, but I guess I got carried away," Rose replied, still blushing.

Draco looked around. On one side of the room, there was a large canopy bed with curtains around it, rather similar to those at Hogwarts, except for one thing. There was something large laying across it. Draco nudged Harry, silently telling him to ask what it was.

"Uh…Rose? What is that thing on your bed?" queried Harry.

"Oh, you mean Aspasia? That's my special girl. She's a greyhound. She is my newest pet. Last week, we went to the greyhound races, and Aspasia was being raced that day. They started the race, and Aspasia was in the lead, but apparently someone didn't want her to win, so they threw a glass bottle straight at her head. But it didn't hit her. Instead, it turned around and exploded at the feet of the person who had thrown it. Mum and Dad brought me home right away, knowing that I had used magic. However, they didn't know that the dog had escaped in all the mayhem, and that she was following me. So, when we got in the car, I noticed her following us and secretly let her into the back seat. We drove home, and when they went in the house, I brought her up to my room. I haven't told them yet, because they would want to bring her back. So you've got to promise me you won't tell. Both of you," she said desperately, looking them both in the eyes.

"Of course we won't," Harry said. "You can trust us. But, I do think you should tell your parents soon."

"I can't! They wouldn't understand. She has been through so much, and they would want to bring her back to that awful place!"

"How do you know if you don't ask?"

"I…well…I…fine, maybe I'll tell them, but now I have to show you to your rooms."

Draco and Harry followed her through a hallway that isn't visible from the downstairs to another wing of the house. Rose walked along until she got to the first door.

"Harry, would you be so kind as to tell Draco that this is his room?" Rose asked.

"Uh…sure. Draco, this is your room." They all walked in to find a room decorated to look exactly like a jungle. There was a big bed, a desk, and lots of places to put clothes and other belongings. His trunk was already there. There was a door on the right side of the room, and Rose was already walking towards it.

They followed, and she said, "This is the bathroom. There's a shower, a hot tub, and a sauna. Everything you need is already in here. The bathroom connects your two rooms."

She walked through the door and led them through an identical bathroom into a room with the savannah theme. There were even patches of dune grass in places on the ground.

"Thanks, Rose. This is great," Harry said.

"You're welcome. The other rooms are set up exactly like my wing, except there is no pet room, and there are four other bedrooms. Feel free to look around. I'm going to leave you to get unpacked; I have to go feed the pets, so if you need me, I'll be in the pet room. I'll come back and get you for dinner."

"Okay. We'll see you in a bit."

Rose went back to her rooms taking the puppy and kitten from them, and Harry turned to Draco.

"What are you doing?! Why aren't you talking to Rose? You're being a complete prat. You're not going to win her over by being a jerk," Harry said, sounding a little peeved.

"Well she started it!" Draco whined, sounding immature.

"You're the one who started it and either way, you should go and apologize immediately. You are a guest in her house, so you could at least be civil to her," Harry shot back in a commanding tone.

"Fine, but it's only because I think that we should be civil if we're going to tutor her."

"Okay, whatever you say," Harry replied, sounding amused now.

Draco stalked off toward Rose's wing. When he approached her pet room's door, he heard a voice singing from inside. He quietly slipped inside, and there was Rose. She had headphones on and was singing along with the music. She was in the middle of a song.

_I cried out heaven save me, but I'm down to one last breath. And will they let me stay, let me stay._

I'm holding on. I'm six feet from the edge. And I'm thinking, maybe six feet is so far down. I'm holding on. I'm six feet from the edge. And I'm thinking, maybe six feet is so far down. I'm so far down.

Said I follow me, but I still believe there's something left for me. So please come and stay with me, cause I still believe there's something left for you and me for you and me for you and me.

Holding on I'm six feet from the edge and I'm thinking, I'm holding on. I'm six feet from the edge. And I'm thinking, maybe six feet is so far down. I'm holding on. I'm six feet from the edge. And I'm thinking, maybe six feet is so far down.

Her voice was beautiful. It was better than anything Draco had ever heard. He immediately forgot their argument and came up behind her. He tapped her on the shoulder. She almost dropped the bag of dog food she was holding.

"What are you doing here?" she asked icily, still mad about their fight.

"I…well…I came to apologize. I'm sorry," he said, sounding slightly abashed.

Rose was taken by surprise. She felt ashamed at how she'd snapped at him now. She didn't really want to be alienated from Draco. She liked him a lot.

"I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that either."

"You know," Draco said hesitantly, "You have a beautiful voice. What were you singing?"

Rose blushed much more than when Harry had commented on her rose and said, "I…uh…thank you…I…I was singing One Last Breath by Creed. It's my favorite song."

"I…don't really know any muggle bands…" Draco said uncomfortably.

"Um…would…you like to…help? Feed the animals I mean," Rose asked hesitantly.

"Yeah! I mean…sure," he replied, almost too eagerly.

"Okay, you can get started on the dog food," she said, thrusting the bag into his hands, "and I'll get started on the cat food. Then, we have to feed the reptiles, small mammals, and the birds. We can feed Aspasia last."

"Okay, I'll---Ouch!" Draco shouted, grabbing his hand in pain.

"Oh no, are you ok?! I'm so sorry! I forgot to warn you, I have hedgehogs, and well, they like to sleep on the cat tower that you were setting your hand on."

"It's ok, but…do you have anything for this?" Draco asked, holding out his hand. There were some jagged nasty looking cuts on his palm.

"Oh, that doesn't look so good. Come on." After they had both set down their bags, Rose led him back to her room and through a door he hadn't seen, because it had been covered in pictures that were making up the stem of a white rose. He walked into a bathroom unlike any he had ever seen before. It was at least three times bigger than both of the enormous guest bathrooms out together. It had all the same things and more, and everything was in a rose theme. The walls were covered in a real looking wall paper depicting a rose garden with a bunch of trellises and roses of all colors; there were vases full of blood red roses and baby's breath on every free space and the ceiling had strings of roses hanging from the chandelier and looping over to the walls, all of them delicately woven together to form a shape that also looked like a rose. There were a lot of rose decorations, yet it didn't seem to be too much.

"You like your name a lot I guess," Draco said bemused.

Rose answered without blushing, "I love roses, and my parents let me do my own decorations. My favorite are the blood red ones, as you might be able to tell. I find the deep color fascinating.

"Here we are. Give me your hand," she demanded, gently putting it under the running water.

Draco admired her as she examined his cut. She was very deft at wrapping the bandage as well. He asked wonderingly, "Why do I still feel my cut?"

"Well, of course you still feel your cut. It's not as if it's just going to magically stop hurting…" she stopped and hit herself one the head.

"Of course! How could I forget?! You probably have magical bandages or a potion or some sort of spell to take the pain away, right? Well, the best I have is an aspirin," she scolded herself, but handed Draco a small red pill.

"What's this?" he asked warily. It didn't look safe to him. How could something like that help him? But he took it in his hand and looked it over.

"It's an aspirin. You're supposed to swallow it."

He put it in his mouth and swallowed it quickly. It didn't taste like anything, and he didn't die within seconds, so he assumed that they weren't poisonous.

"Come on, we've got to go finish feeding the animals," Rose said.

They finished feeding the animals with Draco being careful not to put his hand down on anything again, and they fed Aspasia before going to get Harry for dinner. The three of them then headed down for supper.


	5. School Supplies

Disclaimer: I don't own the people that J.K. Rowling made up, and I don't own the part of the plot that is hers either….damn

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews….not, nobody has reviewed my story, but since I'm having fun with this, I'm going to continue it to the end. READ AND REVIEW!

"So, what do you guys want for dinner? I'm not sure if it's already set or if Mum's waiting for us to come down and tell her what we want."

"Your Mum cooks? Like, the muggle way?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Well, no…but I have no idea who cooks our food to tell the truth. I always thought we had a cook or something, but I suppose we may have house elves…," she trailed off looking bored with the conversation.

"House elves? But, wouldn't you have known? Like, didn't you notice that all of your things were clean every morning?" asked Harry.

"I guess I always thought that we had a really good housekeeper or something…" she obviously didn't want to talk about that at the moment as she steered them into a vast dining room decorated just as the rest of the house was. But, Harry and Draco noticed something that they hadn't before; everything was decorated in gold and red. They also noticed when Rose sat them down that their plates and goblets had the Gryffindor crest engraved on them.

"Rose, why is the Gryffindor crest engraved on everything?" questioned Harry.

"That's the Gryffindor crest? My parents told me it was the family coat of arms…Well, they're coming in right now, so we can ask them," Rose replied. Harmony and Owen walked into the room, and Rose asked without preamble, "Why do we have the Gryffindor crest as our coat of arms?"

Owen didn't look even slightly taken aback as he answered, "The Potters are the heirs of Godric Gryffindor."

Harry looked highly affronted and asked, "Why hasn't anyone ever told me this?! I am an heir…to…Godric Gryffindor? That does explain a bit, but then why didn't the sorting hat immediately put me in Gryffindor? It had wanted to put me in Slytherin."

"Well, your blood, along with Rose's, is more diluted. Since my father married my mother, who was a muggle-born, and I married Harmony, or in you case, Harry, since your father married Lily, who is also muggle born, there has been a less obvious tie, but you are still the closest descendants of Godric Gryffindor, which also means that certain things may come easier for you, such as flying." he looked at Harry as he said this and gave him a small wink.

"If we are finished with that topic, then I have some news. The first thing is that tomorrow Ron and Hermione are coming to spend the summer. And, the second thing is that Dumbledore has pardoned the underage magic ban on anyone living with us, so that you can teach Rose properly. Oh, and Rose, we are going down to Marigold City tonight to get you a wand and some other supplies. The boys can come with if they'd like too," Mrs. Potter said, looking imploringly at Draco and Harry.

"Sure, we'd love to," Draco answered for the both of them.

"Alright, now that that's settled, let's eat," Mr. Potter replied jauntily. He snapped his fingers and food appeared in front of them. Rose gasped, and everyone chuckled as her cheeks turned crimson. They finished dinner, and everyone headed off in the chauffeured car that Mrs. Potter had called. It took them twenty minutes to get to their destination, which turned out to be a very old looking house.

Mrs. Potter walked straight up to the door and knocked the brass knocker three times and walked down the stairs hitting every third step with her wand. Suddenly, the door opened, and they all walked in. As soon as they had passed the threshold, they saw a place that looked rather similar to Diagon Alley, except that there were lots more people and what looked like a stadium in the distance a little ways off.

"Come on, dears, this way. We're going to get you a wand first and then some robes and of course books," Mrs. Potter said to Rose, whose face glowed at the mention of books.

They walked over to a store that looked exactly like Ollivander's and went in. With a sudden pop, Mr. Ollivander himself was standing before them.

"Hello, Mr. Ollivander, this is Rose, my daughter, and she'll be needing a wand," said Mrs. Potter politely.

"Ah, yes, let's see here. I'll just take your measurements quickly, and we'll find your wand in no time."

The bewitched tape measure took all of Rose's measurements, and Mr. Olivander began to pull out wands.

"Let's try this one. Eleven inches, ashwood, dragon heartstring. Give it a wave."

Rose swished the wand and nothing happened.

"No, no. Now how about this one? Thirteen inches, beech, phoenix feather."

Once again, nothing happened.

"Apparently not…hmm….let's see….ah, yes. Try this one."

Rose swished the wand, and all of a sudden, a red rose burst out of the tip landing on the floor in front of her.

"Yes, it is a nice fit. Twelve inches, rosewood, unicorn hair. A very nice wand indeed. In fact, it is the only rosewood wand that I have ever personally made. Strange, the way it picked you though. A rose coming from the tip…" he trailed off and turned to Mrs. Potter to discuss prices while Rose showed Harry and Draco her wand.

"Isn't it gorgeous?!" Rose squealed excitedly, crooning over her wand.

"It's nice," Harry replied without giving it much thought.

"Nice! It's magnificent! And, look at this! Rose carvings! Wow…they're so intricate…they're beautiful…" she stopped to examine the designs more closely.

'You're beautiful,' Draco thought to himself.

"Alright, dears, let's get going. Hmm…we ought to go to the bookstore," Mrs. Potter said, obviously pleased with the screech of glee that emitted from Rose.

The four of them picked their way through the still enormous crowd into a store that was completely covered in books, and before any of them could utter a word Rose's nose was buried in a book that had to be at least a thousand pages long called Creatures and Magic: How They Are Related. It took Harmony at least ten minutes to get Rose out of the book and to find some books she would need for studying.

"We might as well let you have the magic library, dear. It has more than half of these books, but I suppose we really should get all of the books we don't have, seeing as to how you've missed five years of magic training and your O.W.L.'s, which you will have to make up this year. Okay, could you ring this up for me then?" Mrs. Potter asked the clerk, who gave her an astounded look when he saw all of the books she had put on the counter.

"A-All of them?!" squeaked the small clerk, sounding a lot like a cornered mouse.

"Yes, we will be needing all of them," she replied lazily.

After going back to the car to place all of their items in the car, they returned once again. They followed Harmony into a shop, and were immediately surrounded by robes. A short woman was bustling over to them.

"For whom are we going to be measuring robes today? The young lady perhaps?" the woman asked, already picking out some robes and measuring Rose.

"Yes, and of course we'll be wanting some dress robes too," replied Mrs. Potter.

The witch moved quickly, and before she knew it, Rose had three different color dress robes and many new black robes to wear daily.

Harmony hustled them out into the street before taking them into a nice café, where she treated them to some Pumpkin Pasties and Butterbeer, which Rose found delicious after tasting them for the first time. Then, Mrs. Potter asked them where they should go next.

"Well, I dunno. What else do I need?" Rose questioned.

"Well, you'll be needing a couple of small things, such as a cauldron, quills, and parchment, but we can go to the All-Purpose Magical Wear Store for those things. Do you think you'll be needing a broom?" inquired Mrs. Potter.

"What for?" asked Rose, before asking excitedly, "Do you mean for flying? Oh, to be able to fly! It must be so wonderful!"

"Hmm…well, I just saw a pretty nice model in the window over there," Harmony said, motioning towards a Quiddtich shop, "I suppose we could get that one…"

Harmony and Rose walked over to the window, leaving Draco and Harry behind with Harmony saying, "You two boys know way too much about all this Qudditch business for us to have to listen to you giving advice. Stay right here and we'll be back in a second." Both Harry and Draco looked so upset about not being allowed to go with them that Mrs. Potter told them that they could come back again tomorrow to look.

The broom in the window was very sleek looking and was called a Swiftstar. According to the salesman, it was the newest and fastest broom developed since the Firebolt. It was expensive, and Rose didn't want her mother to spend too much on her, but Mrs. Potter insisted that she needed the best and got it for her immediately, despite her protests. The Swiftstar was a lot smaller than the Firebolt and was made for quicker direction change, faster dives, and very quick acceleration. Rose fit on it perfectly, and although she had never flown before, she felt perfectly accustomed to sitting on the broom. She didn't get a chance to try flying it yet, because she needed to fly it in an open space, but when she brought it back to the boys, they gasped.

"Whoa! That's an amazing broom! It must've cost a ton; that's the fastest and most controllable broom there is!" Harry exclaimed with much more enthusiasm than he had for her wand.

"It can change in opposite directions in one second flat!" Draco said amazedly.

"Yeah, it's nice isn't it," Rose replied smiling. Before the boys could reply, Mrs. Potter said, "Come on now! Let's get going. We've got a couple of things to buy yet."

They followed her once again into a store, but Mrs. Potter stopped them, "Actually, this might take me a while. Why don't you go ahead and browse and you can meet me by the exit in a half hour? Go on now, go enjoy yourselves, I'll be along in a bit."

Despite the fact that Harmony's actions seemed odd, the three decided to go and have a look around anyways. They were walking down the street when Rose stopped at a window. It was full of magical animals. She walked in, looking around in awe.

"Wow," she whispered under her breath. Most of the animals were owls, but towards the back, there were cats, toads, rats, and many other different kinds of animals. In the very back, there was a lone hawk. Rose headed towards it.

"Why is that poor hawk all by itself in the back? It looks a little malnourished too…" she mumbled to herself.

As she came closer to it, she could see that it was not very healthy at all. To Harry and Draco, it was already obvious what she wanted to do: adopt it. But the hawk didn't look as if it was in very good mood, and as Rose reached out to touch it, Draco pulled her back, "I don't think that's the best idea, Rose. It doesn't look very friendly."

"What are you talking about? She looks a little on the shabby side, but that doesn't mean she's unkind," Rose replied sounding a little peeved. She stretched out her hand once more, except this time she didn't reach to pet her.

"Hop up," commanded Rose, holding out her arm as a perch. Miraculously to Harry and Draco, who couldn't hear over the loud screech emitted, the hawk hopped onto her arm and allowed her to stroke her gently.

"How did you do that?" asked Harry, amazed.

"I told her to hop up," she replied.

"I didn't hear you say a word. Maybe I just couldn't hear you, because the hawk was screeching when you said it," Draco said.

"She didn't screech. Are you trying to pull a prank on me?" asked Rose suspiciously.

"No, really, we heard a screech," Harry said, beginning to wonder what this was all about.

"Well, it wasn't her. Maybe it was an owl or something."

"Owls don't screech in the same way. What we heard was definitely a hawk screech," argued Draco.

"Maybe there are other hawks here," Rose replied, getting annoyed.

"I don't see any," Harry said.

"Well maybe you should look harder, because she didn't screech!" snapped Rose, very aggravated.

"Um, why don't we go get some air," Draco suggested, not wanting to get into another fight with Rose.

"That's a great idea!" exclaimed Rose obviously relieved. She almost walked out with the hawk on her arm, but Harry noticed that the bird was still perched there and reminded her that the salesman wouldn't be too pleased if she walked out with it. She stopped and commanded it, "Back to your perch." Once again, both Harry and Draco heard the screech and watched in amazement as the bird flew back to it's perch.

"Didn't you hear that? The hawk screeched again! And, how do you get it to do that?" questioned Harry.

"She didn't screech! Arg! I need some air!" Rose yelled angrily, storming through the door. Harry followed her out, but Draco stayed behind. She really liked that hawk, and she seemed thoroughly upset. He wanted to make her feel better, and he could only think of one thing that he knew would work. So, he went up to the counter and asked the clerk to put the hawk in a large cage he had picked out. When the clerk came back looking a little worse for wear, since the hawk was trying hard to bite him through the cage, Draco paid him the small sum for the bird and threw a cover over the cage.

He walked outside to see a very flustered looking Rose waiting beside the door.

"What took you so long?" asked Harry an Rose together.

"Sorry, I was buying something. Here," he replied, handing the cage to Rose.

"For me? What is it?" she asked, bewildered, holding the large cage slightly in front of her.

"Look inside," he said lightly.

She removed the cover and gave a loud squeal of delight, almost dropping the cage. She was so rapturous that she ran to Draco, hugged him and kissed him on the cheek, saying in a delighted voice, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you sooo much!!!"

"Err, it was nothing…your welcome," he said, obviously not used to this kind of reaction to anything. Rose, however, remained oblivious to his stunned features and continued to delight over the red-tailed hawk all the way to the exit, where Harmony was waiting for them. She looked odd under all the packages she was holding, including Rose's broom, robes, and cauldrons. Draco, Harry, and Rose all rushed forward to grab some packages; the four of them exited the city and were home within twenty minutes.

Rose was continually crooning over the hawk, which she had named Rhiannon. She was constantly saying things like, "Oh! Isn't she sweet?!" and, "Just look at how gorgeous she is!" It began to get tiring after the first fifteen minutes, but at that point, Mrs. Potter told her to be quiet and Rose stopped talking, still watching the hawk closely.

When at last they arrived at the house, Mrs. Potter sent them straight up to bed. She put all of Rose's purchases in the elevator and went up with them; Draco, Harry, and Rose used the stairs, with Rose carrying Rhiannon's cage.

At the top, Rose bid them good night and went off to her rooms, thanking Draco once more. The boys went to their rooms and fell asleep immediately, and Rose went to her study where her mother had put her things and started to read; Rose finally went to sleep after reading three books.

However, Mr. and Mrs. Potter did not go to sleep. They were sitting in the parlor."Dumbledore told us that they were to start tutoring her as soon as possible. They can get started tomorrow. She has enough books and has probably read at least three of them already. Now that she's got her wand, she has to learn to be careful with it. So tomorrow, Ron and Hermione will be coming around noon by floo. They can help tutor her too then," Harmony said.

"Yes, that would be good. Then we can go back to work tomorrow, because Rose can get Hermione and Ron situated. Besides, the hospital needs us, what with this shortage of good healers," Owen replied, yawning.

"I suppose your right, but what about Rose? What is she going to do about her job? I don't think she realizes that her tutoring is going to last all day."

"That might be a problem, but we could have her switch to weekends, couldn't we? She loves working at the shelter."

"That would work I guess, but she won't have much free time then…"

"Well, the only thing I've ever seen her do in her free time is read or play with the pets, so I don't think she'll mind much."

"Alright, now that that's settled, we should get to bed. We don't want to be late for work in the morning," Harmony said.


	6. First Course in Magic

Disclaimer: What's the point in saying that I don't own this if you already know that? I own a little for sure, but not the stuff that J.K. Rowling owns, obviously. I need to stop rambling now.

A/N: YAY! I got a review!

m-fashion: yeah, I thought that he wouldn't know what to do, considering his family and all. Thanks so much!

Livi rolls up sleeves and rubs hands together as stick out tongue to think of fanfic

I tried to help this Sirius person write it by packing but it didn't work and shes going really slow and shes going on vacation and leaving me here to suffer and wonder what will happen. She will be bak on Sunday and will hopefully post I hope she doesn't murder me with just one spell with the wands that we made the other night I better run now like the wind before im dead please save me now! This is my fanfic and now im gunna go think of my own and post it on this site and it will be the greatest fanfic ever writin MUAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA! I prolly shouldn't be writing this here and I don't think she knos im on her computer but will find out in like a sec ahh here she comes I better ru-kills Livi with one spell with new wand hmm im still alive I guess she didn't really mean to kill me lol uhh well Im gunna be dead wen she finds out im still writing this while she cleans and packs even though its like 1 am o wells im gunna die in a sec shes giving me this evil stare hmm I wonder if im gunna die lalala this is so pointless Cubans r sexay haha OMG Daniel Radcliffe is sucha sweetie and as soon as Sirius lover person or whatever her sn is on here reads this she will kill me and so will u all cauz thi is so long and pointless and u guys wanna read the story not some pointless person still talkin o well im just gunna talk til she comes bak and go bak to reading the unofficial guide to harry potter 1-4 until carolyn gets me for the 5th book lala wow that's a good song by Ashlee Simpson wow some door just slammed and shes gunna make fun of me for writing this. OMG I LOVE DANIEL RADCLIFFE once again she will laugh at me and ahhh cant wait til like novmber cauz POA comes out on video the 23rd and November decemberish the 6th book will be out with a huge secret bout Lily and stuff omg I so cant wait !! Well Im about to take up like her whole page here and shes gunna kill me AHHHHH HERE SHE COMES TO KILL ME WITH ONE SPELL!!!! kill Livi Yay belly dancing sounds exotic, graceful, and just a TOUCH naughty……… now im officially dead Yay she will post this on the site and I hope that u had fun reading this and belly dance at the same time . Now time to write my very own fanfic and make it the greatest one ever made MUAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH!!! Now I must leave u even though im dead have fun reading this cause im the Olivia in the story…..muahahhahahha I love Harry Potter!!!!

To everyone else who hasn't reviewed: READ AND REVIEW!!!

"HELLO!!! WAKE UP!"

Rose's eyes snapped open to see Olivia bouncing on her bed happily, waking her up like she used to do when they were little.

"Arg! Liv, stop! Fine, what do you want?" Rose asked groggily.

"Your mum told me to tell you to wake up they guys. Let's go!"

When they got to the doors, Liv said, "Okay, open the bathroom doors so that we can see each other and when I count to three, I'll jump on Harry's bed and you jump on Draco's."

They walked in and opened the bathroom doors, then they aligned themselves to jump on the bed.

"Ready? One, Two, THREE!"

Olivia jumped on Harry's bed, who woke instantly and tackled her, both of them laughing.

Rose jumped on Draco's bed. In an instant, Draco had grabbed his wand from the bedside table and shouted, "Stupefy!" With a small screech, Rose fell forward, landing right next to Draco.

"Oh no, what have I done?! Harry! Come here quick!" Draco shouted, bending over Rose worriedly.

Harry and Liv walked in, "What is it Draco?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to stun her, it was just instinct."

Catching sight of Rose, Harry walked over to the bed and muttered, "Enervate." Rose's eyes fluttered open, and she whispered, "What just happened?"

"Well, I…uh…I kind of accidentally stunned you. I didn't mean to. It's just…when you live with Lucius Malfoy for so many years…" Draco trailed off, looking at Rose with a sorry look on his face.

"It's ok, really, but you two need to wake up! Because you start tutoring me today!" Rose said, suddenly very upbeat, and bounced off the bed.

Livi laughed, "Come on you guys. We can have breakfast first, then we'll get started."

"You're teaching me too?" Rose asked.

"Yup. Got the notice from Dumbledore today. Okay, let's go, your mum's waiting for us."

"Um, we'll meet you downstairs. We've got to get dressed first," Harry replied.

"Ok. We'll see you in a minute. Hurry up," Rose said, practically bounding out the door with Liv close behind.

After breakfast, Mrs. Potter led them to a room that they were going to use for tutoring. It was very large and quite similar to the classrooms at Hogwarts.

"Mr. Potter and I have to go to work now. If you need anything, the Terranova's are home."

"Gabrielle?" Rose asked.

"Yes, oh, Rose, I forgot to tell you, Gabrielle and Carolyn are witches too, but they go to a different school."

"Wow, thanks for remembering," Rose said sarcastically.

"Well, we've got to get going now. Ron and Hermione will be here soon, so make sure they're settled, Rose. We'll see you at dinner. Good luck," Harmony said, before apparating to work.

Rose turned to the others, "Ok, so, where do we start?"

Two hours later, Rose heard someone calling her name. She had just finished her first Defense Against the Darks Arts lesson, and she was doing pretty well at it. Harry was the main tutor in this; Olivia was teaching her Charms, and Draco was going to teach her Potions. She heard her name again.

"Hullo? Rose? It's Hermione and Ron! We're in the parlor!"

"Coming! Hold on guys, I'll bring them in here," Rose said.

She walked into the parlor to find Hermione and Ron sitting on the sofa.

"Aunt Hermione! Uncle Ronald! It's great to see you. Here, let me grab your bags," Rose said quickly, wanting to get back to lessons.

"Rose, how many times have I told you? Just call us Hermione and Ron. We're the same age as you anyways. And we can get our bags. Wingardium Leviosa," Hermione said, levitating the luggage into the air.

"So, which way to our room?" Ron asked.

"Come on," Rose replied.

She led them to the Sky Room, which was decorated to look as if they were in the clouds looking down. Even the bed was like a cloud. Rose didn't need to show them around, because they had already visited once right after the wedding in which Rose was a bridesmaid.

"Alright, well, Harry, Olivia, and Draco are waiting downstairs in the classroom. We're getting started on Charms next, and after that, Potions. Later tonight, we're going to do Astrology. Come on," she beckoned, leading them towards the classroom.

They stepped into the room, and after greeting everyone, Hermione and Olivia started teaching Rose how to do Charms. After two hours, Hermione exclaimed, "We must have gotten through the entire first year at least! You a quite good at Charms, Rose!"

"Thanks. Are we ready to start Potions then?" Rose looked expectantly at Draco.

"Yes, but you'll need your cauldrons and book. There's already a closet here with all the needed supplies," he replied.

"Let me get your things. Accio cauldrons! Accio Potions book!" Harry said. Within seconds, the book and cauldrons were zooming towards Harry, who caught them and set them down on the table.

"First, have you read the Potions book yet?" Draco questioned.

"Yeah. I read it this morning at breakfast," she replied.

"Right then. Let's get started."

Since brewing potions takes a while, Rose was brewing three at a time so that the lesson would go faster. Under Draco's direction, she made each perfectly. She then moved on to Transfiguration, which was taught by Hermione. She went through this quickly as well, and by the time she had finished this, Ron, Harry, and Draco were all excited to teach her Quidditch. They all explained the rules to her on the way outside.

"…so there's the Seeker, that's Harry and Draco, and his job is to catch the Snitch, which is worth 150 points…" Ron explained.

"And Ron's job, he's the Keeper, is to stop the Quaffle from going into one of the three hoops…" Harry said.

"…And there are two Beaters; their job is to hit the Bludgers towards the other team to stop them from getting any points…" Draco described.

"There are three Chasers. Their job is to score goals. So, do you understand?" Harry inquired.

"Yeah, it sounds fun!" Rose answered brightly. They had reached the backyard, carrying their brooms and the Quidditch box. The backyard was a huge expanse surrounded by tall trees; it was perfect for a game of Quidditch.

"Okay, since you've never flown before, let's start with that," Harry said.

"Mount your broom, like this," Ron continued for Harry.

"And kick off hard," Draco said, rising into the air on his Nimbus 2001. Harry and Ron were also rising up into the air on their brooms. Hermione and Olivia mounted their brooms and rose up as well.

"Here it goes," Rose said, kicking off the ground. To her surprise, the Swiftstar rose easily, and she glided over to the others slowly.

"Ok, now to accelerate, you lean forward slightly, and to…" Harry said, but stopped when he noticed that Rose was no longer there.

Rose sped off, flashing past everyone, gaining speed quickly. Just as she was about to go into the trees, she pulled into a tight upward spiral and then turned into a dive, which she pulled up from at about an inch from the ground.

This was the greatest feeling that she ever had. She felt so free, soaring above the ground, the wind rushing past her face, catching in her hair, making it stream behind her. She wished she could go on like this forever, but she knew that it would be rude to keep the others waiting, so she turned around and sped towards them, coming to a complete halt right in front of Draco, who was starting at her, wide eyed.

"How did you do that?' he asked, amazed.

"What? You mean fly? I don't really know. It just kind of came naturally, I guess," she shrugged.

"That's how it was for me too. I should've known that my cousin would be the same," Harry said.

"I guess we can get the game started then. Harry can play Seeker, and I'll play a Chaser. Rose, you can be a Chaser too, and Ron will play Keeper, of course. Um…Do you two want to play beaters?" Draco asked, directing the question at Hermione and Olivia.

"Sure," they chorused.

Harry let out the Snitch and handed Olivia and Hermione their bats and Rose the Quaffle. Then he let out the Bludgers, and they started the game. Rose zipped forward, Quaffle in hand, and passed to Draco. He caught it and raced forward coming close to the hoops that Hermione had levitated earlier. Ron came over quickly to meet him head on, and he passed to Rose. She whooshed forward and made a circle around all three hoops, hoping to confuse Ron and succeeding. She scored. Then she heard Harry yell from above her, "I caught it!"

She slowed down and landed on the ground.

"Good show, Harry! It must've only been a minute at most!" Ron exclaimed, walking over, broom in hand.

"Thanks. Wow, Rose, you're a natural. One of the best chasers I've ever seen. You'll definitely make the house team," Harry said.

"The house team?" Rose inquired.

"Each house has it's own Quidditch team. They compete for the Quidditch cup at the end of the year," Hermione piped up.

"Oh, well that sounds like a lot of fun!" she replied.

Rose glanced at her watch.

"Oh no! It's already 7! Mum and Dad will be home any second now! Come on, we've got to get ready for dinner," Rose said, walking towards the house.

"Dinner! Yes! I'm starving!" Ron said excitedly.

"Ron! Honestly! Could you be any more rude?!" Hermione scolded.

"Wha-I wasn't being rude! I was just saying that I was hungry!" he said, his face turning red.

"How can you say that?! You ate just a little while ago!"

"Well it wasn't much! Besides, what do you have against me eating?!"

"I don't have anything against you eating, I just think you ought to be a little bit more polite," Hermione replied, controlling her voice.

"I wasn't being impolite, I was just saying that I was hungry," he said, speaking very slowly, hardly holding back his temper.

"Yes, but-"

"Come on you two! You're married now! Can't you stop bickering for even one minute?!" Harry said, sounding more amused than angry.

They immediately looked ashamed, and changed the subject to something more agreeable.

"Alright, do you two want to get settled and Draco, Olivia, and I will go feed the animals? Harry, would you mind helping them get settled?" Rose said.

"No problem," he replied.

"Okay, meet us in the dining room in forty five minutes."

While Hermione, Ron, and Harry headed off to the guest wing, Rose, Olivia, and Draco walked into the pet room to feed all the animals. After a half an hour, they were done, and they headed towards Rose's bedroom.

Rose opened the door, without checking inside first, and Aspasia sped through the door, bounding down the hallway and zooming down the stairs.

"Aspasia!" Rose screamed.

Rose ran at a full sprint down the hall after her, jumping up onto the stair railing and sliding down hastily, not seeing the figure waiting at the bottom of the stairs.


	7. The Dream and Chicago

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, then Sirius wouldn't have died. (NO!!!!)

A/N: Sorry about the wait, my laptop broke, but please READ AND REVIEW!!!!!!!! Also, in chapter 3 (Debate) The last paragraph has a mistake, Draco and Rose sat as far away from each other as possible.

Livie- lol, you are the greatest, so much fun with all the baking, bracelets, and wands. Give me my wand Tom! LOL!

Leaping off the banister and onto the floor, Rose finally saw the last thing she had wanted to see at the moment.

Harmony was standing at the bottom of the stairs, holding Aspasia by the collar and shaking with anger.

She spoke very softly and menacingly, "What is this? Did you take this dog from the race track?"

"Yes, I did," Rose said, defiance twinkling in her eyes.

By this time, Hermione, Ron, Harry, Liv, and Draco were standing uncertainly at the top of the stairs, unnoticed by Mrs. Potter and Rose.

"Why?! Why?! Don't you realize that that's illegal?! We've got to take her back right now," Mrs. Potter said, exasperated.

"No! You can't!"

"We have too! She doesn't belong to you!"

"So you would rather return her to be abused and raced until she dies?!"

"Arabella Rose Potter! That is not what I said!"

"THAT IS NOT MY NAME!" Rose was almost crimson with rage. She hated her first name, and her mother didn't get the point that she hated being called Arabella.

"Arabella is your first name. It's the name I gave you and it's the name your going to keep!"

"SHUT UP! You know what?! I don't have to take this! I'm leaving!"

Rose grabbed Aspasia from her mother and ran outside, moving towards the garage. She pulled her keys out of her pocket and threw Aspasia in the back seat of her convertible Mini Cooper. She started the car and sped down the driveway, turning onto the street and driving out of sight.

Up in the study, Rhiannon screeched loudly. The pets were all running frantically around the room.

Harmony was standing in the doorway, screaming at the retreating car.

"ARABELLA ROSE POTTER! COME BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!"

But when the car turned out of sight, she turned and looked at Liv.

"Please, Olivia, can you go get her? I don't know where she'll go…"

"Sure, Mrs. Potter, no problem. I've got my Firebird right outside. I'll be right back."

As Liv ran for the door, Draco and Harry shouted, "Wait! We're coming with you!"

They ran out the door to Liv's parked Firebird. Draco climbed into the back seat, and Harry sat shotgun. Liv started the car and raced it down the driveway, speeding up to get to Rose faster.

"I told Ron and Hermione to stay there," Harry said, to explain their absence.

"Alright," Olivia said.

"Why doesn't she like the name Arabella?" Harry queried.

"I think it's mostly because she used to be teased for it in grade school and junior high too," Liv answered, seeing Rose's car in the distance.

"They teased her for it? Why?" Draco asked unbelievingly. He thought that Arabella was a pretty good name compared to Draco, and couldn't understand why anyone would tease her for it.

"Well, you know muggles. They say the dumbest things and can be really mean too."

"Sounds like the Dursleys," Harry said, watching the small car ahead of them.

"I've never met them, but after 6th grade, Rose had exploded at anyone who had ever called her Arabella."

"Why did she hop into that little muggle thing then, that car?" Draco asked.

"Well, she's not allowed to let muggles see her use magic now is she? Besides, we both got our licenses at the beginning of the summer."

"Licenses? Like apparation licenses?" Draco questioned.

"No, driver's licenses. Oh no! I think I know where she's going," Liv said, hitting the steering wheel angrily.

"Where?!" Harry and Draco asked at the same time.

"Her tree."

"What's that?" Harry pondered.

"It's just a little ways ahead."

Rose pulled into the short gravel road and hopped out. She let Aspasia out of the back.

"Go and run around, you might as well get some exercise."

Aspasia ran down the road and back, obviously enjoying herself immensely. Rose had already started to climb the tree. She climbed to the very top, a long way from the ground. At the top, she saw Liv's red Firebird coming towards her tree, but she ignored it. She couldn't stop herself from remembering the dream again.

Olivia pulled her car in behind Rose's and jumped out. Harry and Draco climbed out the other side. Draco saw a white figure rushing towards him.

"Look, it's Aspasia," he said to Harry.

Aspasia ran over and jumped up on Draco, licking his face. Draco patted her and looked around for Rose. Then he saw her. Up at the top of the tallest tree he had ever seen sat a figure that he recognized as Rose. She was perched precariously on a branch overlooking a river. She didn't appear to notice Liv shouting at her to get down.

"Rose! Get down from there! You can't stay up there forever!"

"I can get her," Draco said, beginning to climb up the tree.

"Wait! Be careful, this tree is really hard to climb, there's lots of trick branches and stuff. Trust me, I've tried it before," Liv told him.

"I'll be alright."

He began to climb, watching out for trick branches. He ascended until he was right behind Rose.

"Rose, please come down," he pleaded, holding out his hand.

Rose started at the sound, and released her hold on the branches around her. She began falling backwards off the branch and let out a shriek. Draco shot forward, grabbing her hand and pulling her back up to the branch. Rose clung to him tightly, panting heavily and crying silently. He put his arms around her protectively and comforted her until she stopped crying.

When Rose had begun to fall, Liv screamed and hid behind her hands. Peeking through her fingers, she saw that Draco had rescued Rose and let out an immense sigh of relief.

"That was a close one," Harry said.

"Yeah, thank goodness Draco caught her."

"We ought to give them a little time to calm down. Let's sit over here," Harry offered, leading her to the base of the tree. They sat down and began to talk.

"Why haven't I ever seen you around school? You are in Gryffindor right?" Harry inquired.

"Well, actually, yes, but I mostly stay with the Ravenclaw's. I'm Luna's friend. I would've been in the DA, but my parents wouldn't let me. They were afraid of what might, well, what might happen if Voldemort attacked and I was there. But, I did get Luna to teach me some of the spells," she said looking a little embarrassed.

"Oh, that's good," Harry replied, not knowing anything else to say.

They sat in an awkward silence, neither one knowing what to say, yet both wanting to say something.

"We ought to go back, you're cold and I don't want you to get sick," Draco said to Rose, still holding her tightly, afraid that she might fall.

"I can't let her take Aspasia back! She would be killed!"

"What if your mum changed her mind? She probably won't make you take her back now. She knows what would happen. Trust me, it'll be ok."

"I…I guess I'll take your word. For now," Rose said, giving in.

Harry and Olivia watched as Draco helped Rose climb down the tree. When they reached the bottom, Rose stood there uncertainly for a minute.

"Well come, don't just stand there all day! I think it's almost time for dinner, and I'm starving. Let's go!" Liv said brightly, breaking the ice with practiced ease.

"Draco and I will go in the Mini, we'll meet you at home," Rose said, walking towards the car.

"Come on, Aspasia! We're leaving!" Rose called out.

"Whoa, what was that?! Aspasia is really loud," Draco exclaimed.

"What are you talking about?"

"Didn't you hear her bark just a second ago?"

"No… I was just calling for her to come into the car, maybe that's why I didn't hear her."

"Yeah… That must be it…," he replied.

'Though I severely doubt it, because you were standing right next to me and I didn't hear you call out… at least not in English…,' Draco thought warily.

They all hopped into their cars and drove off.

At the house, Harmony was pacing.

"Owen, what are we going to do about this? That dog is stolen! We have to return it don't we?" she pleaded.

"Well, we don't have to if they don't miss her, which they don't seem to. I know it's wrong, but Rose loves that dog a lot according to what you said, so maybe she should keep her," he replied rationally.

"I don't know I just, another pet? Why do we need another one?"

"Well it's not like she'll take up too much room, that dog will probably fit right in and we won't even notice her."

"A-Alright, but this was your idea."

At that moment, Aspasia came bounding through the door, toppling Mr. Potter head over heels.

"We won't even notice…," Harmony started to say.

"Hush dear," Mr. Potter promptly replied.

Rose, Draco, Harry, and Olivia walked in.

"Rose, we've-I've decided that you may keep the dog," Mr. Potter said.

Rose's face, which had been gloomy a second ago, lit up with joy, and she ran over to hug her father.

"Oh, thank you!" she exclaimed.

"Alright, we all had dinner while you were gone, but we left out the food so that you could eat when you got back. Go on and eat and then it's off to bed, you still have lessons tomorrow."

"Oh, I have to go home, my parents are expecting me for dinner, but I'll be back tomorrow!" Olivia said.

"Bye Liv!" everyone chorused.

After dinner, everyone went to their rooms and immediately fell asleep, except Rose, who stayed up another two hours reading When she had finished reading all of her school books, she went to bed, not suspecting that her memories would once again flood her dreams.

dream

He was close, so close, too close. He kissed her lips, keeping her from yelling out. He held her tightly, bruising her arms, pressing up against her.

"Arabella, come on Arabella," he whispered into her ear. She could smell his breath, it smelled like vodka. He had been drinking; she wanted nothing to do with this person that she didn't even know, but she couldn't stop him from what he was trying to do. He had cornered her, and he had known her name. He was smothering her.

"I like the name Arabella," he had said.

Now Rose was terrified, she was yelling out, but no one came. He was too close, still too close. He need to leave, needed to stop. All of a sudden, a falcon came out of no where and swooped down upon the man, tearing at his skin. Rose knew it must be screeching, but all she could hear were the words, "Run, go now, I've come to help."

She had no idea how she could hear these words, but she didn't care, she took off, shouting a thanks at the eagle.

She was running, running fast. It was over two miles to the car, and once she got there, she still had to drive away before the man discovered her again. But she couldn't stop, she wouldn't stop, and nothing could make her.

She was approaching the car, running towards it, and suddenly, there was no sidewalk, no anything, just darkness.

end dream

Rose woke the next morning, exhausted, although she had gotten a full night's sleep. Her legs were sore and her head was hurting, but she walked to Draco and Harry's rooms anyways.

Rose woke Harry quietly, and went to jump on Draco. She pulled out her wand and got ready to block any spells he sent towards her. Then, she jumped on his bed, making him wake with a start and once again shoot a stupefy spell at her, but this time, she blocked it with a simple blocking spell.

"Did you see that Harry?! I blocked his spell!" Rose shouted excitedly, bouncing with joy.

"Well, it looks like you passed your first Defense against the Dark Arts exam," Harry said, obviously pleased that se was catching on so quickly.

"Arg, you need to find some new way to wake me up in the morning," Draco grumbled groggily.

Rose pouted. "Spoilsport," she replied. She sighed, sounding bored and rolled off the bed. "Let's go, I want to get started on class!" she exclaimed, suddenly excited again. She had already read all the books, so all that was left for her to do was to learn the spells.

"I'll bet I can beat you to the kitchen!" Rose challenged the boys.

"I'll bet not!" Draco said.

"Uh…I'll take a pass, running isn't my thing," Harry replied.

"Okay, ready Draco? On your mark, get set, HEY! Cheater!" she yelled at Draco's back as he ran. But Rose wasn't worried, she knew she would win anyways. She was the best runner at her school, and she could tell Draco wasn't at the peak of his athletic abilities. She chased after him. She also knew that he wouldn't know how to get down the stairs quickly, giving her a double advantage. She passed him easily, jumped on the railing and slid down it. She walked the rest of the way to the kitchen, waiting for Draco to catch up. He wasn't breathing all that hard when he did, but he looked amazed.

"Wow, Rose, you're really fast," he said. He had wanted her to win anyways, but he knew now that she would've won either way.

"Thanks," Rose replied, smiling.

Everyone, including Hermione and Ron, met for breakfast and when Liv showed up, they all went down to the classroom to start lessons. When they finished with lessons, they went out to play Quidditch and then came in for dinner. After dinner, they usually went up to their rooms and either studied, read, or occupied themselves in some other way. On weekends, Rose went to the shelter, although she didn't adopt that many pets now. This schedule held for pretty much the whole summer, until another letter from Dumbledore came after Rose had finished her OWLS a week before Hogwarts started.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Wugmump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Miss Rose Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you received an OWL in every test. You will now be able to join the Year 6 class as a prefect. Congratulations, and we will see you on September 1st.

Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Minerva McGonagall,

Deputy Headmistress

"That's wonderful, honey!" Mrs. Potter said, teary eyed. "We're so proud of you!"

"Uh…Thanks, Ma…can we show them Chicago now? You promised that as soon as studying was over we could bring them downtown!" Rose pleaded.

"Well, I don't know, Rose, your father and I can't bring you this week, we have work, and this is the only week you'd be able to go…I don't know if I want you going by yourselves…"

"Please, please, please, please, please!" Rose said, giving Harmony the, 'I am 16 years old, for goodness sake,' look.

"Oh okay, BUT you need to call the Terranova's and inform them where you are going to be each time you move from one area to the next."

"Okay we promise. Can we go now?"

"Alright, but don't forget to check in!"

"Okay OK! I'm going to go get everyone and then we'll go."

Rose woke everyone up and when they were all ready Livi came over and they each hopped in their cars and headed for Chi-town. Rose was excited, she wouldn't stop telling Draco, the only one in the car with her because a Mini Cooper can only fit so many people, about Chicago and how much he was going to love it. Draco listened, if only to hear Rose talk, and wondered how muggles came up with these things.

'Baseball? Sounds like a bunch of muggles running around. I don't really see the point.' he thought to himself, wondering what the difference between the Cubs and the Sox was.

Rose told Liv that they were going to first go to Navy pier while the crowds were down, then they would go out on the lake in the Potter's boat, and they would eat lunch at the Cubs game, which they had miraculously gotten tickets for.

Navy Pier took half the morning, with Rose and Liv explaining all the muggle devices, such as the Ferris wheel, to Ron, Draco, Harry and Hermione, none of whom had ever seen such a thing. When they finished with Navy Pier, they parked their cars in the boat lot and went out on the water. Rose was a fair sailor and she knew well enough how to control the boat that she had no trouble on this calm day. After sailing, which wasn't all that new to any of them, although Hermione looked like she might be sick, they went to the Cubs game. Surprisingly, Draco and Harry got quite into it. They both told Rose that it was like a primitive muggle form of Quidditch. She laughed at that. When the game ended, Cubs 5, Marlins 3, they stood outside the stadium, trying to decide what to do.

"Well, we should definitely take them to the Parthenon for dinner, and after that to Synergy," Rose said.

"The dance club? Are you sure that won't be too much for their British selves to handle?" Olivia asked, knowing that Synergy was not the most "proper" dance place there was.

"Oh come on! Synergy will be fun! But the problem is where can we go before that."

"Hmm, how about we just sight see?"

"Alright I guess that could work, let me just call the Terranova's to check in," Rose replied, taking out her cell.

After she finished talking on cell, Rose and Liv brought Harry, Draco, Hermione, and Ron to all of the places they really liked in Chicago. Then, they went to the Parthenon for dinner and headed over to Synergy.


	8. Dream or Reality?

Disclaimer: Psht! I can't own HP unless I'm JKR, which I am not, so obviously… gets distracted

A/N: My laptop's fixed my laptop's fixed my laptop, laptop, laptop's fixed! does a happy jig By the way, this chapter is short for a reason, I'll post the other half in a little while. ;)

Rose led them into Synergy first. She came here almost every month, except last month, since she had been a bit busy. The music was loud, but it was dance music, and the people here loved to dance. After Rose kind of explained what was going on to the perplexed looking wizards and Hermione, Rose went out to dance. She immediately went to the middle of the group and began dancing with Matt (the lead guitar in her band), who she had always been great friends with.

Draco, Ron, Hermione and Harry looked on with awe at the kind of dancing being done, while Liv went over to join a smaller group of people she had met the first time Rose had brought her to Synergy.

"What in the world is Rose doing?" said Hermione, the only one brave enough to mention it.

"I…don't really know…she said she was going to dance…but I've never seen dancing like that before…," Harry said, looking concerned about the whole thing.

"Who is that muggle she's dancing with?" Draco questioned, trying very hard, and failing, to hide his jealousy.

Everyone smirked at him. "Hey Draco, got a thing for my niece?" Ron joked.

"No! I just don't know if she should be doing…that," he said, his eyes widening as he saw another person join Rose and Matt.

"Uh… hmm, neither do I…," responded Hermione, sounding a little intrigued and confused at the same time.

Liv watched the others as they became more and more bewildered while watching Rose dance. Liv almost laughed out loud; Rose could dance pretty dirty sometimes, but she was great. She could dance to anything and her dancing always seemed to attract peoples attention. Matt had always been her dance partner. Ever since Liv had been going to Hogwarts, she had noticed that Matt and Rose were good friends, but she knew that they weren't, and could never be, anything more. They loved each other like brother and sister, and that would probably never change. However, despite the fact that they didn't like each other "like that" they certainly put on a good show. They just had a good time with it and let lose.

Rose was thoroughly enjoying herself. She loved to dance, just let everything out. Despite the fact that she knew her dancing was very "sexual," she didn't consider it inappropriate. She glanced at Draco, Harry, Ron, and Hermione and let out a small laugh. They were completely dumbstruck, undoubtedly at how close she was to her dance partner. She _was _really super close, rubbing up against him, but she wasn't trying to _do_ anything, and they both knew it. She walked over to Draco and pulled him in. He was extremely startled, and looked somewhat afraid, which made Rose laugh again.

"Come on, Draco, let's dance. It's fun! Just feel the rhythm," she explained. Rose started to dance with him lightly (not too heavy on the "sexual content" lol), bringing him closer into the crowd. As soon as he got the beat, Rose started to really dance with him. He was a little reluctant at first, but as soon as he got the hang of it, Rose could tell he was comfortable. She liked dancing with Draco. He was actually pretty good. Rose got closer, and they danced together in perfect unison.

Pretty soon, although neither of them noticed, an open circle formed around the two as people turned to watch them dance. Ron, Hermione, Harry, and even Liv were somewhat surprised, but as soon as the song ended and Draco and Rose realized that they were being watched, they separated, blushing.

"I…uh… you're a great dancer," Rose said to Draco, slight shyness audible in her voice.

"You are too…uh…thanks," he replied, shy as well.

After an awkward pause, Rose said that she was going to go outside for some air, and Draco agreed to meet her there in a minute.

Rose stepped outside, behind the building. There was no one else outside besides her. It wasn't cold at all, but she felt a slight shiver go up her spine and a feeling of foreboding. In an instant, she knew why.

She was suddenly pressed against the wall by someone. He leaned against her, getting close.

"Hey, Arabella. I like the name Arabella," he said, reading her name tag. She didn't know what possessed her to write her name as Arabella tonight, but for some reason she had done it.

"Get off me!" she shouted at the man that smelled of alcohol.

"Oh come on, Arabella, can't we have a little fun? Arabella, come on, Arabella," he said, his breath in her ear.

"No, get away from me!" she said, struggling against his grip.

"Not until I have some fun, Arabella," he replied menacingly. She screamed, but he kissed her lips bruisingly, cutting her off. She turned her head to the side and screamed some more. She screamed loudly, but no one was there to hear her and no one came. He was getting closer, smothering her, choking her. She screamed again, but this time there was an answer.

Out of nowhere, a falcon dove down, tearing at the man's skin and pecking at his face. Rose heard nothing but the words, "Run, go now, I've come to help."

She had nothing else to do, so she ran. She had left the car at the boat parking lot, and that was at least a good two miles away, but she ran it anyways. She couldn't risk the man catching up to her. She let her thoughts drift when she hit her "click" where she could run without soreness and without thinking about it. About 13 minutes later, she could see the parking lot. She was approaching the car, she was feet from the door, when all of a sudden, there was no door, no sidewalk, no anything. Everything was black.


	9. Welcome from a Thestral

Draco had just walked outside to find Rose gone and a man being attacked by a falcon. Instead of helping the man, Draco ran inside and grabbed Liv, Harry, Hermione, and Ron, telling them that Rose was gone. They all rushed out to the man and Hermione shooed the falcon away, keeping clear of its talons.

"Where is she? What did you try to do to her, you-," Draco said, shoving the man against the wall.

"Draco, stop, he's a muggle, we can't do anything to him, despite the fact that I would like to kill him right now…," Harry said, restraining Draco and shooting daggers towards the guy at the same time.

"Wait, how do we know that he did anything to her? It hasn't been proven!" Hermione said, not knowing that Draco and Harry had already figured out the mystery behind Rose's animals.

"Well, the falcon is proof enough! Rose can talk to animals, especially birds of prey and Aspasia, and when she was in trouble, she unwittingly called out for help and the falcon heard her. That means the falcon attacked this man, because he was trying to hurt Rose," Draco explained, in a rage about the man's nerve.

"Does Rose know?" Hermione asked.

"Well…no…," Draco replied uneasily.

"Alright, mate, well, we'll leave that one to you," Ron said.

"I…uh…ok, I'll tell her… as soon as we finish with this _scum_," he said.

'How dare he touch her!' Draco thought. Even as he thought this his hand involuntarily balled into a fist. 'No, calm down, we need to find Rose,' he reminded himself, and tried to relax.

"Where is she?" Draco asked menacingly, and everyone's attention turned to the man.

"I-I-I, she ran away, I didn't do anything I just-," stammered the guy.

"Shut up, I don't want to hear it. Which way did she go?"

"That way," said the man, pointing towards the direction of their parked cars.

"Let's go," Draco said to the others, shoving the man roughly out of the way. They started towards the cars, but Olivia stopped them.

"Guys, the cars are two miles away. Rose is fast, but there's no way she's all the way there yet. If she's only been gone for five minutes, then she's probably a little less than a mile away, now I know that none of us are that fast, so maybe we should catch a cab," she reasoned, looking around at them.

Draco immediately walked to the front of the building and whistled sharply, hailing a cab in no time.

"Hurry up!" he shouted at the others. When they were all in the cab, Liv told the driver which way to go and everyone sat back to looked out the window for Rose.

As they were approaching the cars, Harry shouted out, "There she is!" Everyone quickly turned to look out his window, just in time to see her collapse.

"Rose!," they all shouted at once. The startled taxi driver stopped the car and they all got out and ran towards Rose. Draco was the first one to get there.

"What happened? She just collapsed!" he asked the others.

"She must've 'hit the wall.' That's when you run out of glucose as you are running and you just collapse," Hermione said. She sounded just like Rose did when she was stating facts.

"How could she have run out of glucose? We just ate a big meal at the Parthenon a little while ago!" Harry said, exasperated. Liv looked worried and a little bit suspicious, but she didn't say anything.

"Why are we just standing here?! Do something!" Draco shouted, looking panicked.

"Relax, mate, we'll have her awake in no time," Ron said, looking at Harry and Hermione for help.

"Of course, move out of the way you two. Enervate!" Hermione said, after checking for muggles.

Rose sat bolt upright.

"Where am I?! How did I get here?! Oh no! He isn't following is he?!" she said, moving her hands around in a flurry of confusion. She was causing a scene, so Draco caught her hands and pulled her up.

"Rose, stop, the muggles might hear! What are you talking about? Here, let's go to the cars and talk about it," Draco said, supporting Rose as she walked. Rose tried to shove him away.

"I can walk by myself!" She stumbled, and almost fell, but Draco caught her, and this time she let him help her, although she looked like she was sulking about it. When they got to the cars, Draco sat Rose down in the passenger seat, leaving the door open so everyone could talk to her.

"Rose, what happened?" Harry asked.

"Well, I was going outside and that guy attacked me," she said, tears dripping down her face. "It was just exactly like that horrible dream. Then, somehow a falcon swooped down and got him away from me, and I ran. I was feeling just fine, but all of a sudden I collapsed."

Draco wiped her tears away. "Uh, Rose, it might be a good time to tell you that you can communicate with animals," he said, waiting to see her reaction.

"I know, I had figured that out, but I thought it might seem crazy if I said it, so I didn't admit it to anyone."

"Rose, Hermione said that you must've hit the wall when you were running, but how could you have? We had just had a huge dinner before at the Parthenon, and I saw you eating. You couldn't have run out of glucose after that," Liv said, looking at Rose sternly.

"Liv, it's nothing, alright?" Rose replied, sounding almost menacing. She glared at Olivia, who glared right back, although she looked worried.

"Uh, do either of you want to give an explanation?" Harry asked, looking back and forth between the two.'

"No!" Rose said quickly, shooting a murderous glance at Liv.

"No," Liv said, but when Rose wasn't listening she told Harry that she'd tell them all later.

"Rose, you are in no condition to drive," Draco said, looking at her. There were bruises forming on her arms and her lip had blood on it.

"There's no way I'm leaving the car here," she replied stubbornly. Draco looked at the others desperately.

Liv replied, "Let me call Carolyn and Gabrielle, they'll come and pick it up."

"Hey you guys, I could drive it home no problem," said Matt as he came up to the car. "I noticed you leaving in a rush, so I caught a cab and had it follow you here. We got a little stuck in traffic, but I knew that you'd probably have parked your cars here anyways."

"Okay, Matt you can drive Draco and Rose home and I'll drive everyone else, ok?"

"Fine with me," he said, hopping in the driver's seat of the car. Rose handed him over the keys and Draco hopped into the back seat. They drove towards home, and Liv followed in the Firebird.

In Liv's car, she was telling them about why she though Rose fainted when she was running even though they had had a big meal right before.

"Well, you know how we all ate a really big meal? And you know how Rose went to the bathroom really quick before we left? Put two and two together," Liv said. He eyes were flashing with anger. "She's been through this before! She stopped for a while, maybe she's only doing it with really big meals now…"

"Wait, do you mean that Rose throws up her food after she eats? Merlin! That's terrible! Why would she do that?" Ron asked, shocked.

"Someone called her fat one time and she really took it to heart, I guess. For a while she was throwing up everything she ate, later I got her away from that, but I guess it's still a habit after really large meals."

"Is there anything we can do to help? I mean, that kind of thing can be really bad for you," Harry said.

"I'll try talking to her again. I doubt she'll listen, but I'll try."

Later that night, when they all arrived at the Potter Mansion again, Liv took Rose aside and tried to talk to her while Harry told Draco and Matt what was going on.

"Listen, Rose! You can't start doing this to yourself again! You're going to get hurt!" Liv said, trying hard to keep her attitude in check.

"Liv, I'm fine. I'm not going to get hurt, don't worry about it," Rose practically growled at her.

Liv threw her hands up in frustration and walked over to Harry, Draco, and Matt.

"Matt, you are going to have to get her off it, because she won't listen to me."

"Alright. She listened last time, hope I'm still lucky," he replied, a worried look on his face. He had been the one to finally break Rose of the habit last time, so hopefully he could do it again.

"Rose, please, not this again," he begged, looking her in the eyes.

"Matty, I'm ok. It was just one meal! It's nothing," she replied.

"It's not nothing! Rose, this kind of thing will seriously damage your voice, and we can't have a lead singer with cruddy vocals can we?" he said. Smiling slightly.

"No, I guess not. I promise I'll try really hard. Oh Matt I'm going to miss you so much while I'm at boarding school!"

"I know, and I'll miss you too, but you come back in the summers right? That's when most of our gigs are anyways."

"Yeah, definitely. Thanks, Matty. I'll miss you," Rose said, hugging him tightly.

"I'll miss you too, but see you in the summer ok? Don't worry, I'll keep the band practicing while you are gone," he said, hugging her back.

Finally, Matt and Liv left, and everyone went to bed. Draco lay staring up at his ceiling for a while, worrying about Rose. After Liv had told him about it, he couldn't believe that Rose would do something like that. She could really hurt herself with some thing like that. He was glad though, that they were going back to Hogwarts soon. His friends Crabbe and Goyle, would be there. They had never been involved in anything to do with Voldemort either. Neither of them were very smart, but they were very loyal. The Sorting Hat had wanted to put them both in Hufflepuff, but they insisted on Slytherin out of loyalty to Draco, who would've been in Ravenclaw, except he made sure he was put in Slytherin so that his father wouldn't get angry with him for not being in his House. Maybe Rose would be happier there, without all the pressures of living near muggles. With that one last comforting thought, Draco drifted off to sleep.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN ONLY BRING ONE PET?!" Rose screamed at her father the day of the trip to Hogwarts.

"Well it's not exactly as if you can bring the whole pet room with you now is it? You can only bring one pet with you, not including an owl," he replied calmly. He was quite used to the women in his family yelling, since Rose had a short temper and an attitude that matched her mother's.

"I don't have an owl! But what if I bring Rhiannon and Aspasia?"

"I don't know, Aspasia is pretty big, and she is a race hound remember. I guess you could bring Rhiannon as your owl carrier, since she is a smart bird after all, but Aspasia will need a lot of exercise and attention."

"I know, Dad. I've only taken care of her for the past two months. It would be fine! I could take her for walks between classes and such. Besides, she's a really good dog.," Rose argued.

"Well, I guess it's alright if she stays on her good behavior, but make sure Dumbledore is okay with it when you get there."

"Fine, but we should go, we're flooing to the Weasley house first right?"

"Yes, your mother and I have to go to work, but we'll see you off from here. In fact, you should be getting ready to leave right now."

"We're all ready, can we leave now?"

Everyone was waiting by the fireplace. They all made quick thank you's and goodbye's to the Potters and went by Floo to the Weasley house, Rose carrying Rhiannon's cage, and holding Aspasia's collar. Their luggage had already been brought over by apparation the previous week. There they found Ginny waiting for them.

"Hullo everybody! Well, we have a bit of a crisis. We don't know how to get to the station. Mum won't let Dad drive the car again like last time. She said he nearly ran over a nice old muggle woman, so we don't know what we're going to do," she said brightly.

"Where's Molly?" Rose asked. She loved her great aunt in-law, and she had the perfect solution to the problem.

When she found Mrs. Weasley, she told her that she'd be glad to drive. Mrs. Weasley looked skeptical at first, but after Rose showed her her driver's liscense, she smiled.

"Of course. This solves that problem. Well, we'd best be loading up! Fred, George! Come help put things in the car!" she said.

As soon as everyone had piled into the car, and Aspasia and Rhiannon apparated to the station by Mr. Weasley, Rose took off. They were at the station a short time later and were through the gate sitting in their compartment in no time with Aspasia and Rhiannon put with the rest of the animals that were to be taken up to the castle. Rose was sitting next to Draco, Ron next to Hermione, and Liv, who they had met at the station, next to Harry. Ginny had gone off into some other compartment, much to Ron's protest, since it had been filled with not only Ginny's friends, but some boys too. Ron had always been a little overprotective, and Ginny let him know so before she shooed him away.

They talked for a while, but a couple of hours later, Rose and Liv had fallen asleep. Rose's head lay on Draco's shoulder, and Liv was curled up against Harry. Ron and Hermione laughed gently at the two couples, exchanging knowing glances with each other.

"What are you two chuckling about?" Harry asked.

"You two are mad for them aren't you?" Ron asked back, making Harry and Draco look indignant.

"We are not!" they protested quietly, so as not to wake the girls.

"Honestly, boys, I can tell. You are completely crazy for those girls. Not that it's a bad thing at all, I quite like seeing other people fall in love," Hermione said, sounding factual.

"No we're not," they replied, sounding hesitant though. Draco was extremely fond of Rose, but did he love her? He couldn't answer that question. Harry thought the exact same thing to himself, and he couldn't answer it either.

"Oh be quiet. Alright, fine, change of subject. What do you think it's going to be like this year with most of the Slytherins gone. No offense of course Draco," Hermione said.

"None taken. I have no idea what it'll be like. You and Ron did a sound job of rounding them up, so a lot will be in Azkaban. The school will probably be nicer."

"Definitley, but I wonder if you'll have enough people for a decent Quidditch team?" Harry asked.

"I hope so, Quidditch has been a bore lately, but I expect it'll be back to normal now, like everything else huh?" Ron asked, yawning.

"Yeah. We should be getting to Hogwarts in an hour or so right?" Draco asked, directing the question at Hermione, who always knew those things.

"Yes, in fact, we should be changing into our robes by now."

"Alright, you two go ahead, we have to wake up the girls," Harry said. Ron and Hermione left, and Harry tapped Liv on the shoulder to try and wake her up, she . Draco had already woken up Rose like she had woken him when he was in the hospital. Harry smiled a bit.

"Could I have a little help with this perhaps?" Harry asked Rose. She was still smiling brightly, despite that she was blushing a little.

"Well, she doesn't wake up very easily. You can try almost anything and it won't wake her up, except for one thing. See watch, you can even try to pull her up and she won't notice," Rose said, trying to pull her up. Liv didn't budge.

"What you've got to do is tickle her. She'll wake up in a second, but watch out, because her fists will come flying too."

"I don't know, why don't you wake her up? I'm a little afraid of getting beat up, knowing Liv," Harry replied.

"Sure!" Rose immediately started tickling the life out of Liv, who kept trying to punch her. Rose was obviously used to this and easily dodged every attempt at a hit. Harry coughed a bit and the two girls stopped.

"We ought to get dressed, the train will be there in about an hour," he said. They all changed, and Rose was the last to get back. When she walked in, everyone started telling her about what to expect from different teachers.

The train had just pulled into the station, and they all got off. Hagrid was yelling for the first years, as usual, and everyone else went for the carriages. Draco, Rose, Liv, Harry, Hermione, and Ron approached a carriage. Suddenly, Rose gave a small squeak.

"What was that?" she asked, looking straight towards where everyone besides Liv and her could see the thestrals.

"You can see the thestrals?" Harry asked.

"No, I've read about them, but I can't see them. I think one just spoke to me," she said, looking a little bewildered.

"What did it say?" Draco asked curiously. Rose was actually quite good at talking to animals. She had gotten better over the past week, since she had been allowed to admit it.

"All it said was 'Welcome,'" she replied, climbing into the carriage. Everyone else climbed in too. Before she knew it, Rose was walking into the castle. She grabbed Draco's hand, looking a little afraid for the first time that day. Draco started a little at first, but he knew that she was nervous, and led her into the castle, where the former four House tables had been replaced by on huge table. The group of six now sat down and waited for Dumbledore to make his announcements.


	10. Quidditch Tryouts

When Dumbledore had finished with the announcements, each House went to their dormitories, and Rose followed the Gryffindors. She was sad to leave Draco to the Slytherins, but Crabbe and Goyle, who seemed formidable but were nice when you got to know them, went with him too.

Rose found that Aspasia was sleeping on her bed and Rhiannon flying around the room when she walked in. She was rooming with Liv, Parvati, Lavender, and there was an extra bed for Hermione, since she was supposed to sleep there, but Ron had insisted that they move their stuff into the extra dorm together. Liv obviously knew Parvati and Lavender, but she didn't encourage conversation. Rose and Olivia put all of their clothes away before going back down to the commonroom where they met up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Rose made them all promise not to tell anyone about her "abilities." Then, they compared schedules, and unsurprisingly, Rose and Hermione's schedules were packed. Rose's first week was going to be huge though, because she had to retake all of her exams from the summer and go to her regular classes.

Surprisingly enough, Rose found the exams to be easier the second time around than the first. She had studied like mad, and hadn't hung out with anyone all week. She hadn't even talked to anyone, except the librarian, when she wasn't in class, because she needed a lot of books to study from. She knew that people were talking about her, because whenever she walked into a class room, conversations practically stopped. She just didn't know why. None of her friends and relatives were talking about her, but everyone else was. It bothered her a lot, but she had other things to worry about, such as Quidditch tryouts.

They were in one week, and she was terribly nervous, and she hadn't been able to talk to Draco or anyone hardly at all in the first week, because of her busy schedule.

The day of tryouts Rose was so nervous that she was shaking. She was pacing in front of the Great Hall, not noticing anything. Draco had come up early for breakfast too, and saw Rose pacing and biting her nails. He came up behind her and caught her hand, stopping her from terrorizing her nails any further. Immediately after she saw Draco, the look of panic eased off her face.

"Hey, Draco," she said.

"Why were you pacing and biting your nails like mad? Not…nervous are you?" he said, joking with her. He knew her well enough to know she would be completely terrified of the tryouts. "Rose, you have nothing to worry about. You'll do fine," he said, reassuring her.

"What if I don't make it! I wouldn't be able to bear it!" she replied, squeezing Draco's hand hard.

"Ah!" Draco said, shaking his hand. "Well I know my hand would be a lot better off."

"Oh, I'm sorry! I'm just so nervous."

"Try to relax, you're great at Quidditch."

"Really? Thanks."

Rose grabbed Draco's arm and dragged him into the Great Hall and they sat down together, with Rose already talking non-stop.

After a quick breakfast, Rose and Draco headed to their classes together. Rose linked her arm through Draco's and talked about anything and everything, if only to ease her nerves. Draco knew that the best way for Rose to ease off tension was to talk. The more she talked, the more at ease she became, so he let her talk all the way to their first class of the day. They sat next to each other during class, and Rose continued to whisper about anything that came to mind. After that class, they had to split up, because Rose had different classes. Draco watched her as she walked down the hall towards her class, then went quickly to his own.

Without Draco, the rest of the day passed by slowly. Every second seemed to take an hour, and Rose grew more and more nervous, but finally, the last class ended. Quidditch tryouts were in a half hour, and Alicia, the captain of Gryffindor team, wanted to get things started as soon as possible. There were only two spots open, which didn't make Rose feel much better. There was already Ginny and Alicia, chasers, Katie, who had switched to beater, Harry, the seeker, and Ron, the keeper. Two players were needed, and they had to be good.

Rose walked into the stadium a little while later, carrying her Swiftstar. Alicia and the team was already there. Soon after Rose arrived, Lavender and Parvati came in, and walking after them was Liv.

"Livie! What're you doing here? You never told me you were trying out!" Rose said indignantly.

"Well, I wanted it to be a surprise. Besides, the team could use another good beater," she replied nonchalantly. Lavender and Parvati walked over.

"Hey, are you actually trying out?" Parvati asked, looking Rose up and down, distaste etched in her face.

"Why else would she have her _Swiftstar_ with her?" Olivia replied, accentuating the name of the broom.

Parvati did a double take of Rose's broom. Jealousy flashed in her features, but she replaced it quickly with disdain. Lavender, however, was slower to catch up.

"Wow! Is that really a-" she started, staring at the broom with awe.

"Who cares what kind of broom you have if you aren't a good flyer. You could hardly have the skills a good chaser needs to be on the Gryffindor team. You've probably never even flown before!" Parvati covered. She glared at Rose, who looked away, somewhat embarrassed.

"Rose is a great flyer! Probably a lot better than you," Liv replied.

"Well, I guess it'll have to be proven today then, huh?" Parvati said, sneering. Alicia came over, and the tryouts began. Liv and Lavender were given beaters' bats so they could try out for that position and Parvati and Rose mounted their brooms.

"Alright, I'm going to watch you run drills, and that's how I'll pick the new positions. The two trying out for chasers, Rose and… Parventa is it? Anyways, you two will be working with Ginny and Katie using the Quaffle, and I may have you try to catch the Snitch later too. You two, what are you names," Alicia said, looking at Liv and Lavender.

"I'm Liv."

"Lavender."

"Okay then, Liv and Lavender, you two can have hitting practice with me, and then we'll try it in the air, understand?"

"Yep, We're ready," Liv answered for everyone.

Rose saw a flurry of robes, and there was Draco, sitting on a bench looking straight at her. For some reason, she felt even more nervous than before. What if she screwed up? Would Draco laugh at her, tease her? Liv poked her in the arm, making her pay attention. Alicia signaled to Ginny and Katie to begin and took Liv and Lavender to practice.

Ginny was partnered with Rose and Katie with Parvati. They did some drills and Rose forgot about Draco's presence. She was starting to think of some revenge plots on Parvati. Rose made sure that she slowed the broom down and looked bumbling.

"Rose, what are you doing? You ten times better than this!" Ginny whispered in her ear.

"Just go with it," Rose replied, giving her a wink and looking meaningfully towards Parvati. Ginny smiled wickedly along with her.

Alicia was occupied with the beaters, so she didn't notice Rose's terrible playing, but Parvati did. Every time she passed by Rose, she sneered and sped by, trying to show off. It was all Rose and Ginny could do not to burst out laughing, because Parvati wasn't really all that good. It just made her look stupid when she tried to show off.

After about 45 minutes, Alicia dismissed Liv and Lavender, welcoming

Liv to the team, and turned her attention to Rose and Parvati.

"Alright you two! Let's get started. First I want you to try some drills with the Quaffle. Let's have Rose first with Katie and Ginny," Alicia said.

The three ascended on their brooms and began. Rose threw off the pretence of being a bad player and played some real Quidditch. Ginny passed to her, she caught it and did a reverse pass to Katie who dropped it on instruction from Alicia. Rose raced after it and quickly swept it up before it hit the ground. She tossed it back up to Katie, who threw it to Ginny before Ginny passed it back to Rose. Rose knocked it into the goal.

"Nice one, Rose!" Ginny and Katie shouted.

"Very good, Rose. Now let's have... Pairvarki, right? Go on then, you're up," Alicia said.

Parvati finished her drills, although she didn't catch the Quaffle when Katie dropped it, she didn't do terribly.

"Alright girls, now I want you to try to catch the Snitch. Of course, neither of you will become a Seeker, because we've already got Harry, but it'll test your reflexes," Alicia explained while releasing the Snitch. "Ready? Go!"

Rose and Parvati looked around for the Snitch on their brooms. Parvati brought her broom over by Rose's.

"You'll never make it Rose, you couldn't catch the Snitch if you tried!" Parvati hissed menacingly. She rode her broom forward, trying to knock Rose off, but Rose countered easily and continued to look for the Snitch. Parvati was so occupied with being rude to Rose that she didn't even notice the Snitch right above Rose's head, but Rose heard it and looked up. It zoomed past Parvati's face and Rose chased after it, but she went slowly, knowing she could easily speed up if need be. For the moment, she was content to taunt Parvati.

"Come on, Parvati! Can't you see the Snitch, you're going to miss it if you don't hurry up!"

"Hah, why are you going so slow Rose? Afraid of falling off?" Parvati sped towards her, trying once again to knock her off her broom. Rose sped up, but only slightly, to miss the attack.

"Rose, what're you doing? You could've caught it already!" Draco muttered to himself.

"Well, I think she's going for the revenge tactic," Liv said from behind him. "Parvati tried to scare Rose, and insulted her, so now she's about to get back her fair payback. Trust me, just you watch."

"What's the matter, Parvati? Why haven't you caught it yet? You're supposed to be ten times better than me!" Rose shouted to Parvati, who was behind her a bit. Parvati caught up with Rose, so that they were neck and neck.

"Don't worry, I'll get it and the position as chaser!" she replied hotly. They chased after the Snitch and Parvati tried to get ahead of Rose. Rose fell a couple of feet behind her, and Parvati smirked. When she reached out for the Snitch, Rose sped up so fast you could hardly see her on the broom as she sped by, grabbing it with two hands. Rose touched down quickly, and walked over to Alicia, Snitch in hand.

"Good job, Rose! You'd not be a bad Seeker, but you're much better suited to Chaser. Welcome to the team!" Alicia exclaimed.

Ginny ran over and hugged her. "This is great! I can't wait for you to start playing, you're a great Chaser, and we've been needing some help for a while."

"I can't believe I made it! When do we start playing!"

"In a little while, maybe a couple of weeks."

As Rose was walking off the field, Parvati came up to her. Nobody besides Rose noticed, because they were all talking excitedly to each other about that days events.

"You didn't deserve that position!" Parvati said angrily.

"Oh really? The why did I get it and not you?" Rose asked, feining innocence.

"Because they felt sorry for you. You're so fat you practically broke the broom! They didn't want to make you feel bad, so they let you be on the team," Parvati said, sneering.

"You-you're lying. You're… you're just angry that you didn't make the team!" Rose said, but she seemed uncertain. Parvati fed off of this easily.

"Oh but you know it's true. You eat so much, I don't know how you could think that you aren't huge! And, just so you know, Draco is mine. In fact, he doesn't like you at all!" she exclaimed.

Rose couldn't handle it. She wouldn't break down in front of Parvati. She jumped on her broom and took off for the castle. As she sped away, she felt the hot tears run down her face.

Draco didn't hear what happened, but he did see Rose fly away on her broom and Parvati give a satisfied smirk. He ran over to Parvati.

"What did you say to her!" he yelled. She looked so smug that he wanted to hit her.

"Nothing really. I just told her the facts," she replied, even more smug now that she had gotten Draco into it.

"Exactly what facts are you talking about?" he asked.

"Oh, just that she shouldn't have made the team and that the only reason she made it was because everyone felt sorry for her."

"Those aren't facts you bloody nitwit! Why would you even say that? She beat you fair and square. Besides, you suck at Quidditch," Draco replied. He ran towards the castle, not knowing where Rose was going.

Rose flew through the open commonroom window and up the stairs to the dorm, ignoring the indignant cries of the girls she almost knocked over on her way up. At her door, she hopped off her broom and ran inside. No one else was back yet. Rose ran to the bathroom and locked herself in.

Draco ran all the way to the Gryffindor commonroom. The Fat Lady wouldn't let him in, so he knocked on the portrait until Liv came up behind him and said the password.

"What are you doing, Draco?" Liv asked as they walked through the portrait hole.

"Parvati said something to Rose and Rose sped off on her broom. She seemed really upset," he replied looking worried.

"Here, you wait here with Harry and Ron. They're over there playing wizard's chess. I'll go check on Rose."

"Alright, I guess, but come right back!"

"Okay. I'll be back in a minute."

Rose brushed her teeth quickly. She'd never gotten used to the taste of vomit. It still tasted bad, and she couldn't stand it. But, she still couldn't stop. She knew she had promised Matt, but she had to lose weight. Even Parvati noticed that she was getting fat!

Rose didn't hear Liv enter and open the bathroom door with a spell, but she did notice the shadow that fell on the ground. She looked up, and quickly averted her eyes, already feeling guilty.

"Rose, you didn't! You even promised Matt! How could you!" Liv screamed.

"Shut up, Liv! What, do you want everyone to hear!" Rose screamed back.

"Who cares if everyone hears! Why did you do this! Again! Why!" she shouted, purposefully being loud.

"Haven't you noticed me getting fat? How could I allow myself to get so huge? I had to do something!" Rose whispered.

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! Who said this to you! Was it Parvati?"

The look on Rose's face answered for her.

"I'M GOING TO BLOODY KILL THAT GIRL! You are not getting fat at all, in fact, you're way too skinny! Parvati was just trying to get to you!"

"I'm sorry, Liv! I really am, please don't be angry!" Rose pleaded.

"I won't be angry if you just stop hurting yourself. Rose, if you keep this up you won't be able to sing! How can you keep the band together if you don't have a voice to sing with? Not to mention you're going to get sick,"

"I'll stop, I will! I'm sorry, it's just really hard to do by myself."

"Rose, I'm sure we're all willing to help you. You just have to work with us. OK? Well, right now I think I'm going to have a little talk with Parvati," Liv said, walking out of the room.

Rose sat down on the bed and put her head in her hands. It had been a terribly long day, and she was tired. Aspasia licked her hand and she patted her on the head. She knew that she ought to go downstairs to apologize to the people that she almost knocked over, so she pulled herself up and went down the stairs. Just as she turned the corner, she saw Liv's fist raised in the air. Rose knew that Livie was probably about to punch Parvati, and had to stop her before she got into trouble, so she whipped out her wand and threw a freezing spell at her.

"Liv! I thought you said you were just going to talk to her, not punch her out!" Rose said, pretending to scold, but truthfully overjoyed. She took the spell off so that Liv could move again after Parvati had sidled away.

" Oh you know me too well," Livie replied, pouting.

"You two are just a whirlwind of trouble aren't you?" Draco said bemusedly.

Rose looked surprised to see him there. "Why are you here? How did you get in?" she asked.

"Well that's a nice way to greet me!" Draco exclaimed, trying to look hurt.

"Oh shut your gab and answer my questions!"

"I'm here because I saw you fly away and was worried about you, and Liv let me in," he replied.

"Well you shouldn't have been worried. Don't you have homework to do or something?" Rose asked, looking a little peeved.

"What, I don't have a right to be worried now?"

"Not about me! Now get out, go do something useful!"

"What if I don't feel like it?"

"Get out! Just leave me alone! Why do you have to be such a nag!"

"I'm a nag? You're the nag!"

"Arg! Just shut up and leave!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"YES!" Rose shouted and shot a silencing spell at Draco before running upstairs.

Harry took the spell off.

"Bad luck that, mate," Ron said nonchalantly. "Rose has quite a temper. It almost matches yours!"

"She's such a stubborn witch!" he replied, not sounding all that angry. He looked more tired than mad.

"Well, you're right about that one. She's as outright stubborn as Hermione, but then again, they are related. Guess that's what you bargained for."

"And look at Harmony too. All the women in my family are stubborn, so it's natural that she would be too," Harry said.

"Actually, I think all women are just plain annoying. They're stubborn on purpose, all of them!" Ron said.

"And I suppose you're going to say that you're not?" said Hermione from the doorway of their room.

"I was not! I guess I can be stubborn sometimes…but not as stubborn as you!" he replied.

"Ronald Weasley! I honestly don't know why I married such a stubborn young fool of a wizard! You'd better apologize or you're sleeping in the commonroom tonight!"

"Oh come on Hermione, do I really ha-" Ron started.

"Yes you do! Or else!" she warned.

"Alright, alright! I'm sorry, we're both stubborn as mules! Happy now?"

"Yes, that'll do. Don't stay up too long, we still have some papers to finish!"

"Okay dear."

Hermione went back into the room and Draco and Harry looked at Ron.

"What!" he asked.

"She's got you on a short leash, mate," Harry said, laughing.

"You're wrapped around her finger like a thread, Ron," Draco said, cracking up.

"Yeah? Well you're almost as bad with Rose!" Ron shot back, grinning.

"I am not! We're not even dating!" Draco exclaimed.

"Relax, Draco. Ron's just kidding around… you're nearly ten times worse than him and Hermione!" Harry said as he burst out laughing.

"You guys are no help at all! I have to go finish a project for Potions, see you later," Draco muttered, walking out of the commonroom.

Upstairs, Rose was fuming. She had already broken the stress glass her mother had bought her. Once you threw it, it shattered and then reassembled itself so that you could break it again. Liv came in and saw Rose throwing the glass over and over again and Rhiannon was screeching. She grabbed the stress glass and hid it in her robes.

"Would you stop it! That thing gets really annoying after a while," she said.

"Liv, give it back!" Rose whined.

"Why do you and Draco have to argue so much? I can tell you two totally like each other, so I don't know why you're trying to hide it."

"We do not like each other! I'm not hiding anything!" Rose lied.

"You're such a liar. Anyways, don't you have a Potions project to do?"

"Oh! Yes, I'd better finish that," Rose said, sitting down at her desk. She started working on it, and Liv did the same. They both went to sleep early, forgetting all about Parvati, so they didn't hear her come in later that night.


	11. Breaks and Bonds

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter :'( ….yet, hah just kidding

A/N: Carolyn: XIAOYOU! Hah, this is so Meteor Garden like, and I didn't even realize it, just like Lily and James.

Rose woke up first, like she did every morning, and looked around the dorm as she got dressed. She saw that Lavender and Parvati had come in that night. Everyone still looked to be asleep, except for Jia Li, who was always gone early in the morning and never came back until late at night. Rose walked over to the bathroom and went put on her makeup. As she passed the mirror, she did a double take. She stared at her reflection for a couple of seconds before she registered what she was seeing.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Rose screamed, looking about to faint.

Liv came into the room next, like always, and glanced into the mirror. Liv stared for a couple of seconds and then she too registered what she saw.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" she screamed.

By this time, the entire House was up. They all opened up their doors and looked around the doorframe just in time to hear both Rose and Liv scream at the same time. The girls all muffled their laughter as they saw what made Rose and Olivia scream. They only ones who were outright bursting with laughter were Lavender and Parvati.

When they were near the end of the stairs, Rose yelled out, "HERMIONE!"

Hermione opened her and Ron's door and stepped back just in time as Rose and Liv came crashing through the door, slamming it shut behind them.

"Rose, Liv what's wro- oh…It's n-not that bad r-really…," Hermione said, hiding her laughter.

"IT'S NOT FUNNY!" Livie and Rose yelled in unison. Ron came out of the bathroom and burst into laughter. He only narrowly missed the two curses that were shot towards him with rapid speed.

"Ey! Watch it!"

"Serves you right! You two need to help us! Now!" Rose yelled, looking about to panic.

"Alright, alright. All I need is a simple counter curse. Here hold on," Hermione said as she removed the curse that had turned Liv and Rose's hair into tall green and orange striped mohawks.

"Oh dear…," Hermione mumbled after the counter curse had worked.

"What! What is it?" Liv exclaimed.

"Well, the counter curse worked, but…there was another one underneath it," Hermione explained.

They both turned around to look in the mirror.

"Nothing seems wrong 'Mione. What're you talking about?" Rose inquired examining her long jet black hair. Liv was also checking on her light brown curls. Neither of them noticed anything wrong.

"The back...it's uh, well let me just take that off," Hermione replied uneasily, reaching for her wand.

"What is it!" Rose screeched, grabbing Hermione's hand mirror and turning around to look at the back. Liv did the same.

"That little bitch! Oh I'm going to get her for this," Liv said, her hand curling into a fist. Rose didn't care that the back of her hair had a curse that made it appear that the words 'bulimic freak' had been bleached into it, because she knew that she wasn't going to do that again ever, but when she saw Liv's, she got angry. The words 'fat squib' were cursed into her hair.

Before Liv, Hermione, or Ron had a chance to do anything, Rose ran out of the room and up the stairs looking for Parvati. When she found that she wasn't there, Rose grabbed her Swiftstar and flew back down the stairs, through the portrait hole, and towards the Great Hall.

"Uh oh, Rose is in friend saving mode, we better hurry and catch her before she obliterates Parvati," Olivia said, grabbing her wand and heading for the portrait hole.

Hermione and Ron looked at each other, then ran after Liv, shouting for Harry to follow them. Harry, who, like Rose hated to run down stairs, grabbed his broom and flew after the retreating figures of Ron and Hermione.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. Go ask Olivia, she's the one who started after Rose," Ron replied, looking like he wished he'd brought his broom too.

Harry sped up until he got to Liv.

"Liv, what's going on?" Harry questioned.

"Well, see my hair?"

"Yeah, Liv did Parvati do that? That's stupid, you're not fat at all, and you're not a squib. I don't even know why she'd put that."

"It's because my parents are squibs, but that doesn't matter. I don't really care what Parvati thinks, however, Rose can get really angry when someone says something about her friends…"

"And she's going to find Parvati so that she can get her back for what she said to you right?"

"Yep, and we've got to catch her before she beats the crap out of Parvati," Liv replied.

"Here, hop on," Harry said, stopping his Firebolt so that Liv could climb on, then they sped down the stairs towards the Great Hall.

Down in the Great Hall, Draco was sitting eating his breakfast when he saw Parvati come and sit next to him.

"Why do you like that ugly slob Rose? I don't understand, you could have much…much better," Parvati said, moving slightly closer to him leaning in for a kiss.

Draco tried to move away and was about to begin a sentence when suddenly the doors to the Great Hall burst open. Rose flew through on her Swiftstar and grabbed Parvati by the back of her robes, pulling her off the bench and into the air. She flew back out the doors and shut them behind her.

Draco, utterly bewildered, ran out to find Rose about to punch Parvati. Before he could freeze her with a spell, Liv hit her with the Petrificus Totallus curse from Harry's broom which had just gotten them there on time. Draco ran over and quickly unfroze Rose, helping her up and holding her back at the same time.

"What's going on here?" asked Professor McGonagall, who had just stepped out of the Great Hall.

"Rose punched me Professor!" Parvati whined.

"I did not! I wanted to but that doesn't mean that I did! Besides, look at what she wrote on Liv's hair!" Rose fumed, trying to pull out of Draco's firm grasp.

"Well, it's evident that you did not punch Parvati, Ms. Potter. It is also evident that someone cursed you and Olivia, so I shall take care of that immediately. I must ask, Parvati, did you curse these two girls?" McGonagall queried.

"No, I did not Professor," Parvati said, feigning innocence.

"Alright, well the situation is resolved then. Ms. Weepwillow, Ms. Potter, you should find your hair spotless. Please get on to whatever activities you had planned for this weekend," said the Professor as she walked back into the Great Hall.

"See you around," Parvati said, sneering at Rose and winking at Draco, who frowned.

Rose struggled hard against Draco's hold on her, launching herself angrily towards Parvati in an attempt to hit her, but to no avail.

Olivia, Harry, Hermione, and Ron walked over to them.

"Rose, are you alright?" they all asked at once.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she mumbled back at them, not making eye contact.

"Well, if you're not planning on getting into anymore fights today, me and Hermione are going to be upstairs in our room," Ron said, winking at Harry, who stifled a laugh.

"Ew, too much information. Harry, you wanna get out of here? Let's go practice Quidditch," Liv said, grabbing Harry's hand and leading him out.

That left just Rose and Draco standing outside the Great Hall. Rose pulled out of Draco's grip.

"I need some fresh air," she said, and headed outside. Draco ran after her.

"Rose, what just happened? Why did you try to punch Parvati?" Draco asked.

"Why were you just about to kiss her!" Rose said, turning red at the same time.

"I wasn't! That's disgusting!" he replied, making a face.

"Don't lie to me! You like her don't you. She already told me. And I know that you hate me too, so why don't you just leave me alone!" Rose screamed, starting to run away.

"Rose, wait!" Draco shouted, but she was already running away. Draco sprinted after her. When he caught up to her, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her down to sit.

"Rose, that's not true. I hate Parvati, not you. I like you a lot, really," Draco said, blushing a little.

"R-really? You like me?" Rose said. Draco wiped away the tears that had been falling from her face.

"Yes. Really," he replied. Draco kissed her lightly on the lips. Rose pulled away.

"Draco, I can't do this. I can't have a relationship. I have too much that I need to do, I'm not ready yet," Rose said.

"Why not? What are you talking about? Don't you like me too?" Draco asked.

"I can't, I just can't. Draco, please don't make this harder on me, please," Rose said, getting up and running into the building. Draco just sat there, stunned.

Liv and Harry were practicing Quidditch on the pitch when Harry saw a rain drop roll down the front of his glasses.

"Olivia, it's going to rain! We'd better get inside," Harry shouted over the rising winds.

"Alright, coming!" she replied, flying towards him.

They both touched down and ran for the locker rooms as the rain began to pour down. Harry put a water-repellent charm on them and they began to walk for the school.

"Thanks, Harry. I had a really great time," Liv said after a while. She took the charm off of them as they began to walk up the stairs to Gryffindor tower.

"No problem, really. It was a great game too," he replied.

As they reached the portrait hole, Harry reached for Olivia's hand.

"Liv? I wanted to ask you…um…will you…go out with me?" he asked, blushing deeply and looking down.

"Oh, Harry!" Liv said, throwing her arms around his neck in a hug.

"Is that a yes or a no?" he asked amusedly, knowing the answer already.

"Of course!" she answered, laughing. They went into the commonroom and sat on the couch. Liv curled up next to Harry in front of the fire.

Rose laid in her bed and cried silently. She had the curtains pulled so that no one could see her. Aspasia laid next to her, trying to comfort her through their conversation, but Rose refused to listen to anyone.

Draco laid in his bed staring at the ceiling. He wouldn't talk to anyone and fell asleep deep in thought.

Nobody except for Draco and Rose knew why they were avoiding each other, and no one could do anything about it either. They didn't talk to each other or look at each other for nearly a month.


	12. Just Friends

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, and the lyrics in this story are taken from John Mayer, but I'm pretending that they're Rose's because they describe her situation so well

A/N: Xiaoyou: Lol, the only reason I keep this going is because I've lost all grasp on reality, and because you like reading it…

Sam: you're totally right about that thing in ch. 7, but I have to justify myself in some way, so I'm going to say it was because they had never been to an amusement park before (especially Harry living with the Dursely's you know) and they didn't know about things like Ferris wheels and the IMAX theater and stuff… and there's something I know I need to remember for youy , and its tugging my brain strings but I can't quite place it…..

Rose was laying in her bed, waiting for Rhiannon to come back with the post. It was a gloomy day and there wasn't anything much to do. Not like she had done anything besides study for the past month. She sat up and grabbed her guitar, closing the curtains around her bed. She began to play and then sang the lyrics that she'd been thinking of for a while.

__

I'm dizzy from the shopping mall

I searched for joy

But I bought it all

It doesn't help

The hunger pains

First I'd have to drown first to ever satiate

Something's missing

And I don't know how to fix it

Something's missing

And I don't know what it is

No I don't know it is

At all…

Autumn comes

It doesn't ask

It just walks in

Where I left you last

You never know when it starts

Until there's fog inside the glass around your summer heart

Something's missing

And I don't know how to fix it

Something's missing

And I don't know what it is

No I don't know it is

At all…

I can't be sure that this difference

is not of my own design

my own design

I wish I could be over this contest

For loneliness

For loneliness now

Rose put her guitar down and put her face into her pillow. She cried until there were no more tears and fell asleep.

She woke up an hour later when Rhiannon flew in through the window and screeched at her to wake up. There wasn't any mail, but Rhiannon had brought her a mouse, which she graciously declined. After trying to get back to sleep for a while, Rose decided to go for a run. She hooked Aspasia to a leash, put Rhiannon on her arm, and went outside. She had her locket with her in her pocket; she hadn't worn it since the day she and Draco had kissed.

As she ran, she recalled that day, the start of her loneliness. Her last image of that entire day was Draco, laying on the ground. She didn't cry though, because this image had haunted her too often to affect her as much now. Liv and Harry were still together, although they had been through a couple small arguments, but no one was able to convince Draco and Rose to get back together.

Draco looked out the window of the Slytherin Commonroom, and saw Rose running. He sighed. The only reason he had left Rose alone for the past months was because she said she needed time, and he could tell that she was telling the truth. He was willing to wait for her forever, but it still hurt not to be with her. Finally he realized that Ron and Hermione were right. He loved Rose. This realization shocked him. He had never loved anyone before, not like this. He needed to get Rose back, but he would need help.

Liv had been hanging out with Luna more often lately, since Rose refused any company at all. Luna was a pleasant person really, she was just very secretive. That's why everyone thought she was crazy; she had a strange way of keeping secrets. She figured that if she led everyone to believe that she was crazy, then she wouldn't be asked about any secrets. She was right, it worked very well. Liv had no idea of half the things that went on with Luna, but she was still a good friend.

Liv always went to her with her problems, and she definitely needed to see Luna today.

"Ron, you've got to help me. I just don't know how to break it to her…," Harry pleaded desperately.

"Well mate, whenever I used to have to break up with a girl, I-" Ron started.

"Ronald, you know as well as I do that you never had a steady girlfriend before me," Hermione stated.

"Fine then, _honey_, what do _you _suggest?" Ron asked in an irked tone.

"First, Harry, you should make sure that it's not a hard break-up. That's crucial if you want to avoid the rest of this year and next being totally awkward around her. Second, make sure that you have a good reason. If you just break-up with her and don't say why, everyone will think that you're a total jerk. And third, don't break it off in public. Make sure its somewhere private and at a good time so that it doesn't effect anything else too badly."

"What am I supposed to say for my reason!" Harry exclaimed, looking panicked.

"Well, what is your reason?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know really… It's just like, she's not the Liv I asked out anymore. Or maybe I just never really liked her like that and only just realized it… Oh, what should I say?" Harry said, moaning.

"Just tell her that you don't like her, I'm sure-" Ron tried to put in.

"No! Whatever you do don't tell her that you don't like her. That's one of the awkward positions that you need to avoid. Ummmm, how about… 'I just don't feel it anymore, there's no…spark. But, I still like you a lot as a friend.' How does that work for you?" Hermione asked, sounding anxious for him to accept her answer.

Harry heaved out a sigh of relief.

"That sounds perfect," he replied.

"Glad that's over, now we can go down and eat!" Ron said, patting his stomach, which miraculously wasn't that bad looking. (hah Ron with a six pack, oh yeah baby!)

"How is it that no matter what, you seem to always think about food? Don't you care about anything else?" Hermione asked, turning red with anger.

"I…uh…I care about you…," Ron replied hastily, shooting Hermione a glace of anxiety.

Hermione was completely hooked by the hastily thought up response and threw her arms around Ron's neck, and kissing him while they toppled over the chair arm onto the floor of the Gryffindor commonroom.

"Well, I think I'll leave you two alone," Harry said, grinning, as he ran up to his dormitory.

"Luna, I don't know what to do! I'm afraid I'll hurt his feelings…," Liv said.

"Just say that you just want to be friends," Luna replied, sounding perfectly sensible. She was always sensible when it came to Liv's social life problems.

"But that's so…," Liv trailed off.

"Classic. It's classic, and that means he will not get any misunderstandings… By the way, who is it that we're dumping now?"

"Uh…Harry…Potter…," Liv said, looking guilty.

Luna gasped and exclaimed, "Really! I had thought that you broke it off weeks ago!"

"No… I wish we had though. It's just been slightly awkward since then. Enough about that though… How's your love life?" Liv asked.

Luna suppressed a smile, "Drab and dark as usual," she replied. But, Liv knew that look much too well to be fooled.

"So who is it? Did they ask you to Hogsmeade or do you just like them?" Liv asked, wanting to know all the details.

"Ah-ah-ah, nope, no details until you break it off with Harry," Luna replied, smirking in a way that was almost Slytherin. Liv could tell that Luna must have done something completely and truly amazing, because she only ever smirked like that when her mysterious yet intriguingly Ravenclaw ways were paid off.

'Finally! Now everyone will be happy. I'll get my man, Hermione's got hers, Rose will be getting hers soon, and I'm getting Liv hers. Perfect. Worthy of a little Ravenclaw celebration,' Luna thought. It was only her pure genius, as she liked to call it, that had produced the cure to the affliction that had separated her from her love. All that was left to do was to hook Liv up with someone and administer the potion she had been working on for months now to the one she so desperately wanted back.

Luna shooed Liv off before going to find Rose. She could help that situation along a little bit as well…

"Ron, Hermione, you were right, now please, please help me with this!" Draco pleaded. No one had ever seen a Malfoy beg before. It was a strange sight, but Draco was obviously desperate.

"Alright, alright, of course we'll help! After all, what could be better than seeing our niece happy again?" Hermione said, laughing a little. She was happy that at least one of the infamous Gryffindor-Slytherin couple had come to their senses. Now the problem was getting Rose to come around. That might be tough, if Hermione knew Rose at all, she knew how stubborn she could be.

__

Here in this locket lies a small piece

Of the mirror that was made to bring peace

To the tormented souls of lovers.

One look inside,

And you'll see by your side,

The image of your true soul's mate.

Rose read this poem engraved into the heart shaped locket time and time again as she ran. She thought of opening it, to find out if the one that she turned down, the one that still tormented her dreams, the one that she ran from whenever she saw him, was really her soul mate. But she remembered her Grandmother's note that had come in the box with the locket. Along with the apologies that she would never really get to know Rose, for she had seen her own death coming, it said to beware of hasty decisions and not to open the locket until she knew she was ready.

Then, a though struck her. Maybe she had already made a hasty decision in rejecting Draco…

She stopped running and sat down in realization. She knew she had hurt more than just herself when she had rejected him originally, but she had thought that Draco would've gotten over her by now.

"Yet he still won't move on… Why?" she pondered to herself.

"Because he'll never give up on you. 'He who is hopelessly fallen with devotion won't lose his quarry to the world,'" Luna quoted, walking, or gliding rather, towards Rose.

"Hey, Luna. Uhh, did I say that out loud?" Rose replied, turning red.

"Yes, you did. Anyways, Rose would you like to accompany me to St. Mungo's?" Luna asked, not giving away any emotions through her cloudy facade.

"What for? To visit someone?"

"A very special someone indeed. Perhaps we could chat about Hogwarts a little as well on the way. So, are you coming?" Luna asked again.

"Uhh, sure…," Rose said cautiously. She looked at Luna suspiciously. What was this all about?

"I'll explain it on the way," Luna replied. "By the way, you really do have a problem with speaking your thoughts out loud."

"Oh, sorry," Rose said blushing again. Luna, however, was already drifting away towards the path to Hogsmeade. Rose followed out of curiosity.

Liv walked into the commonroom to find Harry pacing nervously in front of the fireplace. She bit her lip in anxiety, but she knew that she had to confront him.

"Hey, Harry! I have to talk to you," she said, getting his attention by waving.

"Oh, yeah, I have to talk to you too," he replied, looking around. "Want to go up to my dorm to talk?"

"Sure, let's go."

Ron and Hermione watched as Harry and Liv ascended the stairs.

"Maybe we were wrong about Harry and Liv, you think?" Ron asked, looking at Hermione.

"I suppose so, but at least we were right about Draco and Rose. They're in love, and I sure hope that the plan we told Draco will work," Hermione replied.

"Speaking of love, have I told you how much I love you today?" Ron asked from the doorway of their bedroom.

"Yes, you have…but maybe you had better _show_ me too," Hermione said, following him into their bedroom and locking the door behind her.

"So…what did you want to talk to me about, Harry?" Liv asked.

"Uh, well, you said you had something you wanted to talk to me about too right?" Harry replied.

"Yes, I wanted to say… Well, I wanted to tell you that I just wanted to be friends," Liv said quickly, watching Harry's face closely for a reaction. She was distressed at first when he seemed shocked, but when he broke into a grin, she was really confused.

"That's exactly what I wanted to tell you!" Harry said.

"Really? That's great! I think that we had kind of rushed into things, and it's just better for us both if we're just friends," Liv said, relieved that they both agreed.

"Good, friends?" Harry said, holding out his hand for a handshake.

"Friends," Liv said, giving him a quick hug instead.

Just then, Seamus Finnigan walked in and started pulling off his shirt. He didn't notice Liv standing next to Harry, and started to undo his pants as well. He walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower, closing the door behind him.

"Phew, I was worried that he was going to take off his pants right in the middle of the room like he usually does. Something must be bothering him for him not to have noticed us standing right in the middle of the room," Harry said.

"Uhh… I think I'm going to get going, now. See you later, Harry," Liv said, blushing as she glanced back at the bathroom door, before running out of his dorm to her own. She laid there and thought about Seamus unzipping his pants until she had to go and take a shower too, a veryb cold shower.

Rose and Luna finally ended up in St. Mungo's. Rose looked around at the place that had been her first exposure to the wizarding world. It looked the same as it had. Rose turned back to where Luna had been standing and found she was gone. She looked around and saw her gliding over to the nurse's station.

"Hello, I'm Luna Lovegood. I'm here with the new potion I discovered," Luna said mistily.

"Oh, Ms. Lovegood! We are so glad to have you here! We have a professional Potions Master that would like to test your potion and discuss how you came to make it. And, of course, our three patients are in their room and ready to be treated. I'm sure a certain teenage boy will be very glad to see you," the nurse said, winking. Luna broke into a huge grin.

Luna grabbed Rose's hand, and they started running for the Permanent Magical Damage Center. Luna burst through the door and opened the curtained area that housed the Longbottoms. She busied herself setting up a small table with her potion and three cups while Rose looked on. The Longbottoms watched the two girls, but no interest could be seen through their clouded eyes.

When Luna had finished setting up and talking to the Potions Master about the ingredients and preparation, she turned to Rose.

"Hey, Rose?" she inquired.

"Yes?" Rose asked, turning her attention back on Luna.

"Are you a virgin?"

A/N: I know, I know, weird ending for the chapter, but hey, this is my story eh! Besides, it does have some effect on the story.


	13. Waiting

A/N: note about the last chapter, in explanation about how the dog and hawk got into St. Mungo's, well, they didn't, I kind of forgot about them, but I'm going to say the reason they just left is that they were with Rose when Luna came up to talk to her and then they went back to Hogwarts and flooed to the wizard hospital and Rose left them both back in her bedroom.

Sam: Oh, now I remember what I wanted to put in there, I'm putting you in the other fic you're going to be Rose's half sister in Spain.

Rose looked somewhat shocked by this sudden question. She was also slightly angry that anyone would assume otherwise.

"Yes, I am a virgin!" she said, giving Luna a hurt look.

"Good, I need you to cry," Luna replied.

"What? I'm not going to just start crying! Why should I?"

"Well let me explain…"

Harry was sitting in the commonroom half asleep late that night. The day was almost over and he had nothing left to do. He had even done some extra homework from McGonagall. Nobody was left in the commonroom and he had to wait for Rose to come back, just to make sure she was okay. When she hadn't come back from running, everyone began to get worried, especially Draco. He was actually sitting outside the portrait hole waiting, and Harry was supposed to wait inside and tell Liv and Hermione and Ron when she got back.

His eyes were just beginning to close when he heard the portrait hole open. He looked up and saw a darkened figure of a girl standing in the archway. He pretended to be asleep as she tiptoed across the threshold. Harry observed her through his half closed eyes.

This was something new to Harry. He had no idea who this girl was. Previously he had thought that he knew everyone in the school, but he didn't recognize this girl. She looked over at him and he snapped his eyes shut. As she retreated up the stairs, he noticed that her black hair was tied in a long complicated braid that almost reached the floor.

He fell back asleep, and only woke up when the portrait hole opened again.

"Okay, I have been brewing this potion for months. It's very complicated, and I developed it myself. I only started it when I knew that it was my only hope to be reunited with Neville, yes Liv's cousin. Anyways, after finding and brewing together all of the ingredients, I knew that there was one thing missing. The last ingredient to cure the block between the Cruciatus curse patients is the tears of a lonely virgin, due to the purity of the tears and sadness etc. But they can't be from just any lonely virgin, they have to be tears of someone who lost their love, to whatever cause," Luna said.

"Wait, then why can't you just cry? I mean it would make sense, since you lost your love and you must be lonely without him, and… oh," Rose said, blushing.

"Yeah, it was just that one little glitch. You wouldn't expect it of me and Neville though would you?" Luna said, grinning mischievously.

"Ok, so how are you going to make me cry? I can't just start crying you know."

"Imagine that Neville over there is Draco. Draco was tortured into that state by Voldemort. You can never talk to Draco again. You never told him that you liked him or loved him, and now he'll never know. In fact, Draco doesn't even know you exist," Luna said carefully, watching for a reaction.

Rose felt a tear drop down her cheek, and another one as Luna spoke. Luna caught them in a vial and then handed Rose a tissue. Rose didn't understand why she was crying. She was over Draco… wasn't she?

"Now you can stop crying, Draco knows you exist and he isn't hurt. In fact, he likes you, possibly even loves you," Luna said, mixing in the tears.

Rose gave a little snort. "Like me? Love me? Yeah, especially after I panicked and left him in the rain after he kissed me. We haven't even spoken for a month!"

"He wants to talk to you, but he can't exactly do that if you're avoiding him now can he? Honestly, I think he's giving you what you asked him for. You told him you needed space or time or whatever and he's only complying because he loves you. I can tell from the look in his eyes that he wants you back," Luna replied.

"No, he deserves better. I…I don't think…I don't know, it's just-," Rose started.

"That you've never really been in love before?" Luna asked knowledgably.

Rose sat down in a chair and put her head in her hands. She needed to think all this over. Luna's words had a strange effect on Rose. The realization the she had come to before was even stronger now. She had definitely rushed into thinking that she didn't want to be with Draco. Draco wasn't rushing them into a relationship, she was rushing out of one.

"Rose, it's getting late, and this potion has to be administered at midnight, so you might as well go on and get some sleep in the next room over. I'll be in here with Neville if you need me," Luna said, practically shoving her out of the room.

Rose walked over to one of the beds and fell asleep, faintly wondering when they would finally go back to school.

Draco sat in front of the portrait hole, dazedly wondering when Rose would turn up. He wasn't truly worried; Rose could handle herself well. It was simply that he had to make sure she was safe. He didn't know why, but he knew that he was head over heels for Rose. She mattered more to him than anything else.

His eyes drooped, and before he knew it he was asleep. The only reason he knew this had happened was because the portrait hole door had closed and woken him up.

It took him a second to realize that this meant that someone had entered the commonroom.

'What if it was Rose?' Draco thought. 'Would she really just walk by me like that?'

Draco was content assuming that Rose would never do that, and fell asleep again, waiting by the portrait hole.

Rose woke up at 11:58 P.M. She hopped out of bed and ran into the next room.

"Shh," Luna said, holding a finger to her lips. "He'll be awake as soon as I administer the potion, and then we three can head back to the school."

"Don't you want to give him some time to… heal?" Rose asked.

"He's spent long enough in this hospital; I think. It's about time for him to join the real world," she replied, giving Neville a loving glance.

"But, don't you think the effects of the potion might take a while or something?" Rose said, worriedly.

"Alright, it's ready," Luna said, motioning to the nurses on staff. They each came to  
Luna's side. Luna had one wake Neville and the other wake both his parents.

The clock struck the first toll. Luna ladled some of the potion into the three goblets. The second toll rang out. Luna mixed Rose's tears into each one. The clock tolled a third time. Luna kissed her pointer and index fingers. The clock tolled a fourth time. Luna placed the kiss on Neville's goblet. The clock tolled a fifth time. Luna kissed Neville's cheek. The clock tolled a sixth time. Luna threw open the curtains to allow the moonlight in. Ding, the seventh toll. Luna sat down on the side of the bed as the nurses mimicked her with Neville's parents. Dong, the eighth toll. Neville gazed at Luna with blank eyes. Ring, the ninth toll. Luna smoothed back Neville's hair. Out rang the tenth toll. Rose heard her heart beating quickly as Luna waited for the eleventh toll. It rang. Luna put the goblet to Neville's lips. The twelfth toll struck just as the soulless seeming Longbottoms each took a sip of the brew.

A/N: Couldn't resist the cliffy! That's why it's so short, hopefully I'll be up and running with this one too. I've been working like mad on the other one, and I've got a ton of ideas for the future of this one, but I can't seem to fill in the middle very well. Well, we'll see how it goes… I was going to start another fic about Hermione getting with Ginny, but Xiaoyou almost had a heart failure, so I decided against it… sorry Josie! REVIEW FOR DRACO AND ROSE'S SAKE!


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